Thawing Walls
by Shading Source
Summary: Hitsugaya is stationed in a turbulent Karakura Town to investigate increased Menos activity. The inevitable interactions with Kurosaki Ichigo give way to things neither of them expected. Not only are they drawn to eachother, but to the conclusion of an insidious scheme as well. Kurosaki Ichigo x Hitsugaya Toushiro Yaoi
1. Chapter 1

A new Ichigo x Hitsugaya story, because the world needs it. I was inspired to write a story with this pairing after reading several other magnificent fanfictions. I started writing this almost 3 years ago, forgot about, and picked it up recently. I have half of it written out already, actually. This will be a lengthy multi-chapter story with mature content. Please bear with the beginning, I find writing a first chapter is always the hardest.

**Thawing Walls - Chapter 1**

"Souten ni Zase, Hyourinmaru!"

A cold, determined voice called out loudly, the temperature in the passing soft breeze sensibly dropping a few degrees as the katana held by a snow-white-haired boy extended, a chain with a crescent-shaped blade attached to the hilt now appearing. Gripping the handle with both his clenched hands, he positioned it right next to his face. The tip of his powerful zanpaktou now aimed at the desired target: Three Adjuchases and two Vasto Lordes.

The tenth division's captain gritted his teeth. What in the world was Yamamoto-sotaicho thinking? Certainly the old Commander-General had gone senile when he send a captain _without_ his vice-captain on a mission like this with only a few decent ranking seats to drag him down. Because in fact, even if Matsumoto wasn't of any help when it came to paperwork, there was no ally he'd rather have by his side when it came to battles like this. Of course, the youngest captain would never voice those thoughts like that. But still, it was in a situation like this that he wouldn't mind having someone dependable by side instead of inexperienced, incapable and incompetent low-ranked seats. Gripping his trusted zanpaktou impossibly tighter, he took a deep breath.

'_Let's go, Hyourinmaru…"_

And with that, Hitsugaya growled deeply as his reiatsu exploded, creating a fierce wind around him. Pulling his zanpaktou back slightly before thrusting it forward, Hitsugaya called forth the legendary water and ice dragon said to be able to control the weather. It was rightfully claimed to be the strongest of its element and at that moment it surged forward, freezing every unlucky thing in its path. It had managed to stop two of the Adjuchases but the remaining one along with the two Vasto Lordes had managed to dodge the dragon's wrath and were now scattering over the place, trying to capture the captain in a triangle. Said captain was frowning deeply as he dodged the attempted attack, all the while keeping an eye on the seats that were fending off some Gillians and having visible trouble doing so.

'_Damn it. Hollows –especially Menoses- aren't supposed to be like this. They're not supposed to ga—'_

Hitsugaya jumped up and thrusted Hyourinmaru into the Adjuchas as he kept an eye on the remaining Hollows.

'—_ther without an apparent reason, nor should they be working together… And 2 Vasto Lordes in the same location? It's exceedingly rare.'_

The icy captain soon gave up on his thoughts as he focused on the battle at hand, deciding to figure things out after the fighting was over. After he'd defeated these Menos Grandes, whose combined strengths were getting dangerously close to a captain's.

Hitsugaya took a quick glance at the battle next to him, his seats finally managing to take down one Gillian, leaving 4 still standing. The boy-captain scowled. This was not his day. What started off as a usual one, with Matsumoto disrupting his peace every 2 minutes or so, took a turn for the worse when a Hell Butterfly had called him over to the Commander-General's office, where this entire mess had started.

Hitsugaya suddenly yelped in surprise as a Cero partially hit him in the back. Thinking too much had caused him to lose focus. He growled as he was forced to kneel on the ground, one eye partially closed as he felt the pain slowly spread to his limbs.

No, this certainly wasn't his day.

But he downright refused to give up. After all, these were mere Hollows. They weren't half the Arrancars Hitsugaya had faced until now and he'd been victorious each and every time. No, hell would really have to freeze over, which he could actually do if he put his heart into it, before he would give up. His anger swelling within him, the shinigami prodigy let out something resembling a roar as he forced his reiatsu a bit higher again, rising on his feet as he took his battle stance once more.

It was far from over.

Jumping high into the sky, his zanpaktou held above his head, the crescent-shaped blade now blocking the moon's pale light, he let Hyourinmaru surround him as he concentrated his reiatsu into the dragon. Locking his sight on one of the Vasto Lordes, he swung his sword down and the roaring dragon was propelled at its target. Hitsugaya prayed it would connect and thankfully it did, encasing the single enemy in ice. Quickly returning to the ground, he immediately held out one hand as he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Hadou 33: Soukatsui!" And as he voiced the incantation-less spell, a huge blue ball of energy formed.

"It's over." He whispered as he released the ball and send it crashing into the mountain of ice and breaking it down to a fine dust that almost resembled snow, taking the frozen Vasto Lorde with it. Hitsugaya fell on one knee as he breathed heavily. The Cero that had hit him on the back was still hurting like hell and he'd really put his all in that last incantation-less spell. Adding that to the fact that he'd been fighting for quite some time while monitoring his seats and preventing them from dying meaningless death, he was getting pretty exhausted. And that said something, knowing the prodigy's usual stamina. About to stand up, Hitsugaya's eyes widened as he realized a dire fact. Turning around just in time to see the last Vasto Lorde thrusting at him with an insane speed, he stretched his arm again, yelling with a desperate voice.

"Bakudou 61: Rukujyoukourou!" And just a few inches before the captain's face did the Menos' movement halt, bound by the spell the captain had managed to use at the last moment. Scowling, Hitsugaya jumped back, taking a second to regain his breath. Hitsugaya winced as he felt the burning sensation in his back, the Cero aching insistently. Then, suddenly a cracked voice came from a tiny microphone he kept with him.

"Hitsugaya-taichou, the barrier's been set and the seals can be released, sir. Please don't hold back anymore." Hitsugaya groaned in frustration.

"That took to fucking long. You better have it set up faster next time."

It really wasn't like Hitsugaya to curse, but his temper had limits. Finally, the flowerlike tattoo hidden under his kimono glowed for a moment before disappearing completely. Feeling as if a heavy pressure was lifted from him, he gripped his zanpaktou, scowling.

'_Seriously, that it has come to this… This is definitely not normal.'_

"I'll make you pay" Hitsugaya growled and grabbed the handle of his katana with two hands again. Allowing his reiatsu to explode to an even higher level than before, he prepared to finish this once and for all.

"Ban—"

"Getsuga Tensho!"

Hitsugaya's eyes widened as a concentrated, black wave of energy slashed the bound Hollow clean through the middle, disintegrating it until nothing was left. Hitsugaya tried to hold back the wave of relief that washed over him, and his frown deepened slightly as he only just now noticed the almost overwhelming reiatsu that could belong to one person only. His sight blurred slightly as he saw a bright orange-haired boy dressed completely in black approach him.

"Yo! Toushiro, wasn't it?"

Hitsugaya immediately scowled.

"Hitsugaya-taichou." He closed his eyes as he tried to regain his sense of balance. Feeling slightly shaky he gripped Hyourinmaru tightly in his right hand, now walking past the substitute shinigami.

"Please get lost, I have to help my division." But before Hitsugaya could make any progress the smug voice already stopped him.

"Don't worry. Those Hollows are being taken care off." And it was true, as Hitsugaya noticed two other reiatsu's approaching fast. Squinting his eyes he recognized one as the Quincy teen and the other's as a reiatsu that distinctly reminded him off something else, though it was definitely belonging to the huge, dark other teen. The two had already taken down three Gillians and were casually finishing off the last one. Hitsugaya looked at his division's seats who were spread out on the ground, completely exhausted. The last Gillian finally fell and disappeared with a deafening scream. With a sigh he called his division to gather around him. The shinigami had great difficulty standing up and it would take a while till they reached their captain. Said captain was now standing next to the substitute shinigami, though never meeting his gaze, simply looking at the now quiet town they'd fought hard to protect.

"You didn't have to come. This was a mission given to the tenth division and we could've handled it easily." The tone in Hitsugaya's voice was clearly tainted with exhaustion, but most of all with hurt pride. The taller boy merely grinned.

"And would that have been before or after you used your bankai on a few Hollows?" Hitsugaya scowled deeply, trying to protect whatever was left of his pride. Could this day get even worse? It would have been fine if he'd just finished this mission himself and then returned to Seireitei immediately.

"Shut up. No one asked for your help." The irritation was apparent in the captain's voice. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, waiting for his division's shinigami to reach him. After a few seconds they finally gathered around him.

"Okay, first of all, any critical injuries?" Hitsugaya looked around, seeing the shinigami shake their heads slowly and mumbling soft replies, even though they were probably holding up in front of their captain.

"Alright then, listen up. We're going to wait for the restoration team to arrive to clean up this mess and then we're heading back. I advise everyone to pay a visit to the fourth division's quarters to get a checkup when we get back." Hitsugaya was about to finish when someone interrupted.

"Hey, Toushiro, if you want—"

"It's Hitsugaya-taichou." An eyebrow twitching as he scowled.

"—you guys can stay at my house for a little while. My family's on a trip and they won't be back until tomorrow morning. Besides, Inoue could tend to your wounds if you'd like."

"No thank you, Kurosaki. The fourth division's treatment will be enough." However, the substitute shinigami refused to give up.

"Look at it this way then. Coming with me would mean giving Unohana-san and the others a break, right? They're really busy treating other shinigami, I'm sure. So they wouldn't mind, right? The fourth division that is." Ichigo had his stupid grin on his face as he saw the tenth division captain hesitate at his logic. The boy was frowning deeply again, something that couldn't be healthy for a boy his age. But Ichigo quickly shook his head as he reminded himself that that boy has probably lived far longer than he'd done and that the kid captain knew a lot more than himself.

"Well… Alright then." Hitsugaya said with a sigh, constantly reminding himself he was only doing this so he wouldn't have to burden the fourth division unnecessarily.

And so they started walking, some –mostly the seats- limping, towards the Kurosaki residence.

* * *

><p>Hitsugaya-taichou sighed deeply as he looked around. What was the reason they were here again? His arms were crossed in front of his chest as he closed his eyes, trying to block out all the noise and chaos. He had insisted on being the last one to have his wounds healed so he was now patiently waiting for his turn while Inoue was trying her best to patch up each and every tenth division member. The white-haired boy's eyebrow twitched slightly as he tried to ignore the constant bickering between the substitute shinigami and the famous last-surviving Quincy. He was actually glad it was the bulky giant who was sitting next to him. The guy named Sado, probably not even one-tenth of Hitsugaya's age yet surely twice his length, was comfortably silent as he seemed to observe the chaos as well.<p>

Hitsugaya gently sipped the served tea as he watched the last seat being healed by the impressive human girl. He'd watched her power with great interest but the strong light it emitted had started to hurt his eyes and he felt a throbbing headache slowly creeping in the back of his mind. It was pitch dark outside, the hour being well past midnight. He faintly heard a phone ring and frowned at the sound. The little captain had hoped to be back in his office before one in the morning, perhaps doing a bit of paperwork before he went to bed, not even enjoying the short sleep he'd get. But now he'd let go of any plans he'd made, just hoping this whole thing would be over as soon as possible… His headache was getting persistent.

"Oi, Toushiro, it's for you." Hitsugaya opened his eyes as he looked at Ichigo standing in front of him, handing him the phone. Silently, he reached for it.

"What is it?" He asked in an irritated tone.

"Now, now, Hitsugaya-taichou, not so cruel off the bat, please," a playful voice said on the other end of the line, a little mischief noticeable in the voice. Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow.

"Urahara-san?" The surprise was almost obvious in the little captain's voice. No matter what had happened in the past, Hitsugaya still respected the strange man, knowing he had powers and knowledge beyond even his own belief.

"Urahara-san, what could you possibly want?"

It was quiet for a little while, before Urahara's voice came again, this time unusually serious.

"Hitsugaya-taichou, is it correct that it was you and your division who set up that barrier earlier tonight?"

"Yes."

"Is it safe to assume it was because of the Menos Grandes you faced?"

"Yes."

"Anything unusual you noticed?"

It remained quiet for a while.

"Besides the increase in Vasto Lordes, they cooperated."

Again, it remained silent for a moment.

"Cooperated?"

"Yes. Two Vasto Lordes and one Adjuchas tried to catch me in a triangle before, and even after I'd taken down the Adjuchas, the two Vasto Lorde's showed unusual ability to take advantage of any situation." Hitsugaya spoke in a low, soft voice, trying to keep it down so no one else would hear the conversation. A rustling sound could be heard on the other end of the line and Hitsugaya could only imagine Urahara hiding his face behind his fan.

"I see…"

Hitsugaya sighed.

"What are your thoughts on this matter, Urahara-san?"

"Who knows…" It took a while before Urahara continued. "Hitsugaya-taichou, please continue you excellent work and I hope you have a pleasant evening! Bye bye!" And before Hitsugaya could say any more, Urahara had already hung up. Sighing as he turned off the phone, he looked around. The place had quieted down a little as the orange-haired boy seemed to have left and most of his division's seats were quietly talking among themselves.

"Alright, everyone, listen up," Hitsugaya said in a soft, somewhat disturbed voice. After a few seconds, he'd gained everyone's attention. Hitsugaya sighed.

"We're leaving."

And without anything else, he turned around and opened the window, the cool night breeze entering the room.

"Hey Toushiro, I've got some snacks if you wan— What, you're already leaving?" Ichigo said as he came back, slightly disappointed as he held a tray filled with all kinds of food. Hitsugaya didn't even turn around to face him.

"We're in a hurry. I still have to report this whole thing in Seireitei so we're leaving now." Then Inoue stepped forward, a worried look on her face.

"Toushiro-kun, please, I haven't tended to your wounds yet."

The little captain sighed as he felt the Cero's burn on his back.

"For the last time, it's Hitsugaya-taichou," he growled in frustration. Ichigo merely grinned.

"Oi, Toushiro, feel free to come back when you're in the area." Hitsugaya just sighed.

And with that, he jumped out of the window, disappearing in the darkness of the night, his torn, white haori wildly swaying from the jump. The remaining tenth division shinigami chaotically stood up and followed him as fast as possible, not wanting to be left behind.

Ichigo took a deep breath as Inoue closed the window, preventing the temperature to drop even more in the room. Ichigo stared at the tray of food he was holding for a minute before his usual smile returned on his face.

"Well then, let's clean up this mess, shall we?" He quickly put the plate down and started cleaning up, a satisfied grin plastered on his face. Ishida merely pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, Sado letting out a deep breath. They both shook their heads.

* * *

><p>"And the Vasto Lordes?"<p>

Yamamoto-sotaichou's old, cracked yet serious and demanding voice echoed through his own office, the room lit by only a few candles, casting eerie shadows on the elder's face.

"They've been taken care off. One was taken down with my shikai but for the last one I would have required bankai. However, that is when the substitute shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo, interrupted and finished the battle."

The Commander-General frowned as he thought deeply. It remained silent for quite some time, during which Hitsugaya didn't move or flinch one bit, merely staying in his bowed, humble form.

"Very well. Hitsugaya-taichou, I expect a full, written report before noon tomorrow. Please do elaborate on the so called cooperation you claim to have noticed among the Menos Grande. You're dismissed."

"Yes sir," Hitsugaya said quickly, glad to be able to stand up again. He took quick, quiet breaths as he walked out of the room. But before he reached the door, it already quietly opened. Invisibly raising his eyebrow, Hitsugaya tried to identify the late visitor. As soon as said visitor entered the room, Hitsugaya recognized him as the twelfth division's captain, Kurotshuchi. The odd captain looked even scarier than he did in broad daylight, the shadows cast upon his face only making him look all the creepier. Hitsugaya suppressed a shiver as he walked past the captain.

"Hitsugaya-taichou." The captain said out of courtesy, though the displeasure was obvious in his voice.

'_What kind of business could that guy possibly have with Yamamoto-sotaichou at this hour?'_

Hitsugaya faintly nodded.

"Kurotshuchi-taichou."

And with that, Hitsugaya finally reached the door, more than glad to finally close it behind him. He sighed deeply.

This wasn't his day, but at least it had come to an end, the dawn of the next already setting in.

* * *

><p><strong>In the next chapter of Thawing Walls:<strong>

"Hitsugaya-taichou, Kuchiki-taichou, you will immediately head to Japan, settling down in Karakura Town as you too will engage any Menos Grande activity you can detect in the area."

And…

Hitsugaya groaned in discomfort, adjusting his tie for the umpteenth time in the last ten minutes. Straightening his white blouse, he moved uncomfortably in the grey pants he was wearing, feeling as if they were just a little bit to big.

'_Seriously, why do I have to do this, again? It's absurd. I bet Matsumoto is having a laugh right now. Damn her, why did she do such an unnecessary thing?'_


	2. Chapter 2

Alright, chapter 2 is out! I see the first two chapters as the prologue of the story, from chapter 3 and on it's all gonna start rolling. I'd love to know what you're thinking so far!

**Thawing Walls – Chapter 2**

Teal orbs scanned the room, trying to hide their uncommon disinterest in the given report by the seventh division's captain, Komamura. Normally, he was vigilant in paying close attention to the reports of others but the animal-like shinigami's deep, low voice almost vibrated through the air, making Hitsugaya's skin tingle with a uncomfortable sensation that made him lose his focus.

Despite that, Hitsugaya stood completely still, his arms crossed in front of his chest, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. No sign of unusual discomfort.

"The patrols proceeded rather smoothly and quickly, with only a few disturbances of…"

His thoughts wandered back to the events of only a few hours earlier. Those Menoses, something was definitely strange. Their behavior, intelligence, it seemed unprecedented. Urahara seemed to have his theories, but of course the shady man didn't give a single hint as to what was going on in his head.

"…managed to take them down with the help of Iba-fukutaichou, though they were actually close to being above vice-captain level. Especially when they started to work together, did they become extremely dangerous, forcing me to use my shikai, tempting me release bankai."

This perked Hitsugaya's interest. So, he wasn't the only one who'd faced such a situation. He scowled slightly. At least Komamura had his vice-captain with him at the time. He himself had to manage with those seats, none of them ranking above ninth, seeing as Matsumoto had taken those with her on her own mission. Sure, it was Hitsugaya himself who'd send her on that –relatively simple recon- mission before the whole mess started and Yamamoto knew that. Yet he still gave him the order to investigate previous night's Menos'. And of course, Hitsugaya never being one to refuse, felt obliged to accept it nonetheless.

The little boy was snapped out of his thoughts as Yamamoto stomped on the ground with his cane, gaining the attention of all captains who had mentally trailed off immediately.

"Very well. According to the reports I have received over the past 24 hours, there is an unusual activity among the Hollows, specifically Menos Grande. All captains except for Unohana-taichou, Komamura-taichou, Zaraki-taichou and Ukitake-taichou are to start a new mission this evening."

Hitsugaya felt extremely uncomfortable. Why sending out that many captains, with Aizen's threat lurking around the corner? Seireitei's defenses would be significantly weakened. Because of that, Yamamoto was usually much, much more reluctant to send out captains.

"Soifon-taichou, after setting up your division as our primary defense force for the coming time, you will head out with Kyouraku-taichou and you will investigate the outer regions of Rukongai before heading to the human's world, engaging any Menos Grande you can detect on the continent of America."

Now Hitsugaya's eyebrows really shot up to his hairline. Sending out two captains with such a huge area to cover, not even mentioning the fact they didn't often send out captains to countries other than Japan, was extremely rare.

"Hitsugaya-taichou, Kuchiki-taichou, you will immediately head to Japan, settling down in the location where this phenomenon started, Karakura Town, as you too will engage any Menos Grande activity you can detect in the area."

Though Hitsugaya's face returned to his normal, composed and calm features, he inwardly groaned. Sure, he'd rather work with the stoic captain than with a certain eleventh or twelfth division's captain, but it was close. At the same time, he wouldn't have to deal with unnecessary social activities people like Kyouraku were fond of.

"Take your vice-captains with you if you please. Remind yourselves that this investigation has utmost priority. Now, dismissed."

Hitsugaya looked around as he saw Kyouraku chuckle.

"Well then, Soifon-taichou, it'll be a pleasure working with you," the older man said, pushing his hat up with his index finger. The addressed woman only scowled, eerily similar to his own scowl.

"Lay one finger on me and I'll castrate you in the bloodiest way possible," she snarled before leaving the room quickly. The threatened man only grinned.

"Touché. It's a shame you don't wear glasses." With a last smile and a nod to Ukitake he also exited the room. Hitsugaya tightened his lips in a fine line as he exchanged glances with his soon to be partner, both of them not showing any sign of communication. They understood what had to be done.

He'd better get ready to leave soon.

* * *

><p>Hitsugaya dropped the two bags he'd been holding as he sighed in relief at the silent, comfortable sight. Looking around, he saw the apartment was smaller than he'd originally thought, though the size didn't really matter that much. He'd be content with any kind of accommodation, as long as it met commoner's standards. Walking around, he noticed a very small kitchen attached to the equally small living room which was filled with a simpe table, 4 chairs and an old yet comfortable looking couch. The walls were all empty, not a single decoration, let alone a painting, to fill up the spaces. His gaze slowly went to the three doors attached to the living room, probably leading to two bedrooms and one bathroom. Frowning a little, he tried to get accustomed to the fact he'd be spending the next few weeks, at least, in this place. More disturbing was the fact he'd be sharing this apartment with the cold captain of the sixth division, none other than Kuchiki Byakuya, himself. Still, it was better than staying at some human's house, or in a hotel for that matter (even though that seemed quite appealing at the moment). Byakuya's mission funds combined with his own had allowed them to easily rent this apartment for the next few weeks. Hitsugaya had dragged Matsumoto with him, thinking that if she wasn't going to do paperwork anyway, she might as well make herself useful with fieldwork. She'd insisted on staying with the female friend of Kurosaki, saying (squealing actually) something about trying out all kinds of food and some interesting discussions Hitsugaya didn't even want to know the contents off. And he didn't care, glad for the fact that he wouldn't spend all of his time with his –always loyal and trustworthy, of course- noisy, energetic vice-captain. Byakuya's vice-captain, Abarai, had told them he'd stay at Urahara's shop, mumbling something about getting back at some kids and Hitsugaya was sure he also heard 'freeloader' being mumbled, though he didn't understand what the man had meant. Of course, Hitsugaya didn't complain. The fewer people he had to share his living space with, the better. And frankly, dealing with Kuchiki Byakuya was more than enough for the prodigy. Eyeing said captain who was walking in front of him, he observed the man, both their faces never changing one bit. A silence fell over the two and Hitsugaya couldn't determine if he liked this or not. Actually, he guessed he didn't.<p>

"I'll pick up the gigai's," Hitsugaya quickly said to break the silence, at the same time having an excuse to be alone for a little while.

"Good," Byakuya mumbled as he took his bags and claimed the biggest of the two bedrooms on his own. Hitsugaya shook his head. He didn't really mind, not planning on spending more time than necessary in his room. And with that he turned around, gently closing the door behind him and refrained from using shunpo. He was going to stay in this town for quite some time, so he might as well get to know it a bit by walking around normally. And with a deep breath he made his way to Urahara-shoten.

* * *

><p>-The following day-<p>

Hitsugaya groaned in discomfort, adjusting his tie for the umpteenth time in the last ten minutes. Straightening his white shirt, he moved uncomfortably in the grey pants he was wearing, feeling as if they were just a little bit to big.

'_Seriously, why do I have to do this, again? It's absurd. I bet Matsumoto is having a laugh right now. Damn her, why did she do such an unnecessary thing?'_

Sending his vice-captain some more mental curses, he adjusted his tie once again, looking at his watch in a very irritated manner. His mind wandered back to the previous day, where Matsumoto had stormed his apartment, startling the residents who thought a Hollow was barging in (Though Byakuya would never admit thinking that).

Of course he'd refused immediately. It was unnecessary, troublesome, irritating, stupid, a waste of time, and did he already mention troublesome?

"But taichou…" Matsumoto had said with a slightly whining and teasing voice, "you'll blend in with society a lot better this way. Besides, you might just have fun!"

Hitsugaya snorted as he remembered how Matsumoto had tried to convince him without success. Still she proceeded with her own ideas and troublesome and childish plans. And that was exactly why he was standing here right now, suddenly bound by the human world's laws and rules, forcing him to be at this very place.

And why didn't Abarai and Matsumoto come as well? They did last time. Sure, he couldn't even begin to imagine Byakuya in a place like this, but the two vice-captains had done it before… Not that he wanted them around... Hell no. He just thought that if he'd have to suffer, then so should they.

A faint 'Come in please' could be heard from the other side of the door and he groaned in defeat as he opened the door, the soft whispers immediately reaching his sensitive ears as he entered the room. An eyebrow twitched as he was sure he'd just heard someone call him 'shorty' but he tried to ignore it. A vein threatened to pop on his forehead as he heard a comment on his hair. The gravity-defying part he could live with, it was true after all, but the 'grandpa's color' was too much. But again, he contained himself as he approached the woman standing in front of the room and took his place standing next to her, now facing everyone else. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and he frowned deeply.

"Everyone, this is Hitsugaya Toushiro-kun." Hitsugaya could barely hold himself back as he was about to snarl the habited correction at the woman, but instead took a deep breath.

'_They're all so stupid… They don't even remember me attending this school only a few months ago.'_

Blissfully ignorant, she continued.

"Hitsugaya-kun, can you tell us something about yourself?" She asked, a genuine yet unfortunately irritating smile on her face. Hitsugaya just scowled.

"Not really."

A bit taken back by the short, irritated answer, the woman continued again, laughing nervously.

"H-Hitsugaya-kun," –Again, barely able to contain himself- "is a transfer student who will be joining us from today on. He was with us a few months ago but unfortunately he had to leave shortly after. Hopefully he'll stay with us a little longer this time." Hitsugaya chuckled ironically.

'_So she does remember… Maybe she's not as stupid as she looks…'_

"Please help him find his way around here and be nice, okay? Alright then, Hitsugaya-kun, please take a seat." Hitsugaya's eyebrows twitched again but he nodded. He was about to walk to an empty seat in the back when suddenly an orange mob of hair shot up, yelling loudly though sounding as if he'd just woken up, pointing his finger at him accusingly.

"T-Toushiro!"

Hitsugaya stopped dead in his tracks to see who caused the disturbing yelling and couldn't stop the loud groan from escaping him as he actually covered his eyes with his left hand.

'_Why… Why did Matsumoto sign me up in the same class as him? Again?'_

* * *

><p>Hitsugaya's face remained blank as he stared at the bustling city beneath him. Traffic made a lot of noise but from higher up, it was bearable. The sky looked a sad grey color with the sun shining weakly on the city below, every few minutes covered by one of the many clouds. Still, it was unusually warm for the time of the year, seeing how it had snowed in Karakura only one week ago.<p>

A lot of people could be seen wandering the streets, some too busy to look around while making their way through traffic, others taking their time while looking at all the different shops in the streets.

Joining Hitsugaya on the rooftop of the school building were Sado Yasutora, Ishida Uryuu, Inoue Orihime, Arisawa Tatsuki and the unmistakably loud substitute shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo. The five of them were talking with each other rather loudly, discussing all sorts of things, school mostly. Hitsugaya stayed away from the little group, preferring to sit next to the high fence and just look at the city below, relishing in the fresh, cool wind that gently swayed his hair. The neat bento box next to him remained untouched as the frosty captain, now degraded to a mere school student, wasn't very hungry. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that it was Inoue who had made it for him as probably requested by his vice-captain. He continuously ignored the invitations to join the loud conversation taking place only a few feet away from him.

Taking deep breaths, he slowly allowed his tense muscles to get the slightest amount of rest as his eyes started to flutter, closing and then quickly opening again for a while. It didn't take long before his eyes had closed completely, all the noise fading away slowly as he only heard the wind.

Anyone who would have the luck of seeing the boy now would see a young man, appearing to be almost a child, with the exterior of a serene angel as his eyes were closed, his hair gently swayed by the wind. His right leg stretched, the other pulled up to the chest, his left arm casually was resting on it. Seeing the boy in this state one would never have someone suspect him to actually be a powerful shinigami captain who'd seen more battles than any living soul on earth, an extremely high percentage of the battles ending with him as the victor.

Hitsugaya's breath slowly started to regulate in soft, deep breaths. The boy felt himself sometimes falling in the comforting darkness of sleep, though he repelled it with practiced ease. It hadn't been the first time sleep had tried its hardest to get its hold on the young, over-worked boy. And even though to the rest of the world it seemed like the frosty angel was asleep, only he knew of the alertness, the constant searching of the area. As much as he'd like to ignore the world around him, he knew he couldn't and shouldn't. Even though he was somewhat relaxed, which was a rare given, he still managed to take in his surroundings, not missing a single thing that went on.

He was about to drop his guard a little more when the disturbing sound of his mobile phone forced him into an immediate awake state. Ichigo, Sado, Ishida and Inoue eyed him with obvious worry as he read the message on the little screen. While he shut it with a deep breath, Ichigo immediately stood up, walking towards the little captain. Said captain quickly raised himself from his comfortable position and fished a tiny, green, candy-like ball out of his pocket. Swallowing it with a thick sound, Hitsugaya's gigai collapsed on the ground as the captain proudly stood in his shinigami kimono with his ever spotless white haori and his trusted zanpaktou on his back.

"You don't have to follow," He whispered in his low, deep voice. He then leaped over the high fence with ease and disappeared out of sight within seconds, his haori the last to be seen of him. Ichigo stomped his feet on the ground, obviously irritated because he got told off that easily. Hastily turning around and with somewhat of a pout, he walked back towards his group and sat down, arms crossed in front of his chest as he refused to look anyone in the eye. The only one who dared to speak up was a dumb-struck Tatsuki.

"Did…Did Hitsugaya-kun just split in two?"

* * *

><p>Hitsugaya tightened his lips in a fine line as he slashed through another Hollow with his trusted Hyourinmaru. These lower-level monsters were nothing compared to the Menos' power he'd faced a few days ago. He wondered why it was him who got summoned to take care of these weak ones. There were other shinigami stationed here, right? They should handle things likes this. But he didn't really mind that much, as it gave him an opportunity to escape from the troublesome building known as school and those stupid conversations known as common chatting between those loud humans. Apparently they'd made it their goal to annoy the living hell out of him. Frankly, they were pretty successful up to now.<p>

Hitsugaya landed on the tip of his feet for a split second before jumping high into the air again, taking out two more Hollows in the elegant jump's path. Landing on his feet again, he sighed. There was no end to them. And though they provided him some necessary daily exercise and allowed him to finally move freely without the constant restraints of his gigai, even he was getting bored by now. However, in his boredom he failed to notice the Hollows were surrounding him and while he took out three of them standing in front of him, he suddenly got hit quite forcefully in the back.

Hitsugaya groaned as his back was still slightly sensitive from the Cero he'd received some days ago –he had refused proper treatment, saying it was waste of his time- but right now he wished he had taken Inoue's offer on healing him completely.

Jumping again, he leaped over the line of Hollows, landed on the tip of his feet again and quickly turned around, his arm already stretched out to release a powerful spell. However, before he could even call for it, a huge wave of energy crashed into the Hollows, effectively destroying them all in one blow. Hitsugaya scowled as he recognized the unique, pressing reiatsu.

"That's the second time I saved ya." The Ichigo said with a smug grin on his face. Hitsugaya frowned as he turned around.

"And it is the second time it's unnecessary." And without further conversation, Hitsugaya had already taken off, shunpo-ing towards the building he'd come to hate so quickly. Left behind was a chuckling Ichigo who rested his enormous zanpaktou on his back again.

"So stuck up," he mumbled as he ran after the little captain.

* * *

><p>-The following day-<p>

A pair of eyes fluttered open slowly, before quickly closing again as the invading sunlight hurt his eyes. The snowy white haired boy groaned as he tried to remain in his warm slumber a little longer. Breathing out deeply, he rolled on his other side, one hand resting on his pillow, right in front to his face. The other hand remained under the blanket, under the warm curtain of comfort he so desperately tried to maintain. His eyes closed again, his breath regulating quickly as the boy almost fell back in his sleep. But it wasn't meant to be as suddenly the harsh sound of his newly purchased alarm clock went off, signaling it was time to get up. Groaning even louder, Hitsugaya stretched out his arms and legs after slamming on said disturber. Sitting up straight, he ran a small hand through his even messier than normal hair as he tried to carefully dispel the drowsiness the sleep had induced him with.

Sighing deeply as his sleep-fogged brain couldn't process at the speed he wanted to, he stood up, neatly folding his blanket and placed it on the ground. He silently cursed his gigai again for needing that ridiculous amount of sleep and taking so much time to get clear in his head again. He really preferred to stay out of the troublesome thing while he was in his apartment, but it was important to get used to the limitations of it, seeing as he'd be spending quite some time in the gigai.

With a dangerous look on his face he gathered some of his stuff and made his way to the bathroom. As he opened the door he noticed the floor was slightly damp and a somewhat pleasant scent lingered in the room. So Byakuya had gotten up early…

Dumping his stuff in a small basket on the floor, he turned on the shower before undressing. It wasn't long before steam filled the room, desperately trying to escape through the small window, though failing miserably. With a small flinch, Hitsugaya stood under the stream of water, hoping to wash away his sleep-induced haziness.

After ten minutes the small boy exited the bathroom, steam finally escaping through the door. His hair slightly damp, he wriggled uncomfortably in the (ridiculous) uniform he was forced to wear. As he entered the living room he noticed Byakuya sitting at the table, a cup of tea in his right hand as he seemed to read something, Hitsugaya assumed it was the human world's newspaper. Hitsugaya couldn't quite get used to seeing the cold man in casual clothes, though they were far neater than most of the city's wardrobe. The other seemed to ignore his presence as he continued reading. One would question the fact that the man was actually alive, seeing as how he didn't move at all when not needed to.

However, Hitsugaya choose not to mind him as he opened the fridge, taking out some breakfast he'd already made the night before. Stuffing it in his mouth, he grabbed his thin coat and put it on.

"Already leaving?" Hitsugaya flinched at the question, though it sounded more like a statement.

"Yes…"

Byakuya didn't face him.

"Where to?"

Hitsugaya blushed slightly and tried to hide it by scowling. Picking up his bag with more force than intended he made his way to the door, not looking at the man sitting at the table as he mumbled.

"School."

**In next chapter of Thawing Walls:**

_Juubantai-taichou-han, wake up please, _a sly voice suddenly seemed to whisper in his ear, sending violent shivers down his spine. A pair of sleep fogged eyes shot open quickly as they scanned the area for any distinct reiatsu's, his heart beating harshly in his chest as his head wildly moved from left to right to detect the possible intruder.

And…

"Toushiro!" He yelled as he went over to the boy, hoping he was alright. He tried gently shaking the boy, but there was no response or any other sign of acknowledgement as the wound only expelled more blood.

"Toushiro! Damn it, get a grip of yourself! Toushiro!" Ichigo yelled desperately, though he knew the boy probably couldn't hear him right now.


	3. Chapter 3

So, here's an extra-long and eventful chapter to make up for the slower first two. Also, I made a slight adjustment to the original story. Ichigo is in his last year of High School, instead of his first. I mean, who actually sees him as a 15 year old? Also, when you see * in a sentence, then an Author's Note will follow at the end of the chapter for explanation. This idea is something that my lovely reviewer Love Pyscho mentioned, so all credit for the idea goes to her genious mind. Anything else you want explained? Let me know through a review or PM. In any case, I'd love to get feedback! Without further delay, I present you:

**Thawing Walls – Chapter 3**

Emerald like eyes stared dully at the space in front of him, not taking –and not even trying to take- in any information from his immediate surroundings. Two slender arms rested on the table he sat at, elbows on the table's surface, a delicate chin resting on his small hands. His vision blurred every other second or so, not even trying to pay attention to the woman standing in front of him and all the others. She was desperately trying to keep everyone focused at her, and she failed. Miserably. When Hitsugaya paid attention to his surroundings, he noticed a soft snoring sound from not too far away. Frowning slightly he recognized the source to be none other than the troublesome and most of all loud human. While his own form was elegantly resting on his little desk and made it _seem_ like he was actually paying attention, Kurosaki was ungracefully resting his head sideways on his desk, his lips slightly parted as he didn't even fight the sleep that overtook him.

And as much as he disliked it, Hitsugaya couldn't really blame him. For the past three weeks already, they'd been up most nights fighting Hollows, along with a few Gillians and an occasional Adjuchas –thankfully no Vasto Lordes most of the time-. And while it was regular and common exercise for the battle-worn captain's soul, he could imagine it being tiring for a human, even if said human possessed an enormous amount of energy and skills to boot.

Not only Kurosaki was sleeping. Sado Yasutora, the powerful giant with physics unlike any other human, was dozing off and even Ishida Uryuu, the normally attentive and sharp Quincy teen was losing his focus every now and then. It only proved how absurd and frequent their battles were, despite their opponents being mere Hollows…

"Hitsugaya-kun, please continue where I left off and finish the problem," a sharp voice suddenly seemed to echo through his mind. Pushing his chair back slightly he stood up, barely suppressing a yawn. He glanced at the board and noticed a rather simple math problem written all over it, already finished halfway. With a dull and bored tone he spoke up.

"Subtract five z from both equations, multiply the bottom one twice and add both equations together by substracting them along with their outcomes. The outcome is variable y equals six. Thus, x equals four and z equals five."

Soft whispers could be heard as the small boy took his seat again. Choosing to ignore them, he continued his mindless gazing, just wishing the class would end already. It had only been a few weeks since he started to attend this school and at first he'd done his best to stay alert at all times, but the level of education soon proved to be way beneath the boy's intellectual capabilities. His top grades were only matched by Ishida, the -former- number one of the class.

Hitsugaya soon fell back in his non-attentive state, staying alert just enough to notice any disturbances in the area, but relaxed enough to rest. He felt a comfortable warmth spread through his body as his eyes started to feel heavy. Seeing no harm in closing them for a brief moment, he slowly allowed his eyes to flutter closed, his breath already regulating in soft, slow ones.

_Juubantai-taichou-han, wake up please*__, _a sly voice suddenly seemed to whisper in his ear, sending violent shivers down his spine. A pair of sleep fogged eyes shot opened quickly as they scanned the area for any distinct reiatsu's, his heart beating harshly in his chest as his head wildly moved from left to right to detect the possible intruder. He sincerely hoped he'd just imagined the sound of that person's voice, one he wished he'd never have to hear again. When his sight finally focused in front of him, however, he noticed a startled teen standing before him.

"Oi, Toushiro… You okay?"

"K-Kurosaki…" Hitsugaya mumbled, confused and nervous at the same time. His turquoise eyes were hazed with clouds of confusion. Ichigo chuckled as he ran a hand through his messy orange mob of hair.

"Gee, you don't have to jump like that, Toushiro. You must've been really fast asleep."

Hitsugaya stood perplex, his mind oddly blank.

'_I…I was asleep?'_

"Anyway, Toushiro, class has ended. Wanna walk home together? Your apartment is in the same direction as my house, right?"

Hitsugaya quickly hid his confusion behind his scowl, deciding to figure this out later. Right now, he just wanted to leave.

"No, thank you. I'm fine. In fact, I'll be going now," he mumbled with a deep frown, picking up his bag, putting away the books covering his desk and immediately making his way towards the door.

"W-Wait, Toushiro." Hitsugaya halted and turned around, though a very dangerous expression on his face that spelt 'back off'. But Ichigo ignored –or perhaps really didn't notice- it as his usual goofy grin appeared on his face.

"Vacation's coming up pretty soon and when it starts I'm having a little house-warming party at my soon-to-be apartment. It's nothing much, just some movies and a few games or something. You wanna come?" Hitsugaya snorted.

"I don't have time," he answered as he turned around. However, it seemed like Ichigo wasn't planning on giving up after one try.

"Wait, Toushiro. Gee, let me finish, will you? It'll be fun, I'm sure. Chad, Inoue and Ishida are coming, though that four-eyed bastard might just ruin the mood. But never mind him, I know I don't! And can't Byakuya cover for you, just for one night?" Ichigo almost pleaded.

"Kurosaki, I'm not planning on burdening Kuchiki-taichou unnecessarily." The faint smile on Ichigo's face faded, now replaced with slight disappointment as he let his shoulders sag a little bit.

After a few seconds he seemed to recover from his disappointment.

"Just let me know if you change your mind, okay? The party's in about two weeks and I'll give you the address tomorrow, since I haven't been able to memorize it precisely just yet," he said while scratching the back of his head, an innocent smile now plastered on his face.

Hitsugaya merely shrugged and continued walking to the door, though he stopped again once he got there, this time remembering something.

"Kurosaki," he said with a deep and irritated voice, " you _must_ call me Hitsugaya-taichou from now on."

And with that said he finally left the room, leaving behind a shrugging Ichigo.

* * *

><p>A nearly inaudible groan escaped soft lips, tightly pressed into a fine line, as the captain of the tenth division allowed himself to fall on his bed, his head pressed into a fluffy pillow as he tried to clear his head. Fighting to control his breath, he attempted to relax the tense muscles in his neck that pressed a painful headache to the front of his head. Meanwhile, his thoughts were racing at an incredible speed, desperately trying to make sense out of the previous shocks his mind had taken.<p>

Surely, it must've been a dream. There was now way it could've been him. It was simply impossible. But Hitsugaya knew what he had heard. That tone, that implied slyness, it could all belong to one person and one person only. A person who was supposed to be somewhere far away, hiding his hideous, traitorous face. So why? Was he really imagining things? Did the workload finally get the best of him? Why now? He wasn't all that busy at the moment, only fending off some minor Hollows and a few Adjuchases or Gillians while he was at it, all the while staying at the top of his newly attended –and of course, troublesome and easy- class effortlessly. So… What was it then?

_Juubantai-taichou-han, please don't think too hard 'bout it. Yer head'll hurt, ya know._

Hitsugaya's body shot up at the sound, his eyes widened in horror as he desperately tried to find the source of the voice. He tried his best to suppress the shivers that ran down his spine, but he couldn't help it as he clenched the sheets beneath him.

_Hitsugaya-taichou…_

The boy groaned, trying to block out the source and remain calm. The voice seemed to echo through his head, feeling as if thin, sharp knives continuously stabbed the inside of his skull.

"Hitsugaya-taichou."

'_Shut up'_, he thought as he gritted his teeth.

He moaned slightly as he was determined to shut the voice out, not giving in to the chaos in his head.

"Hitsugaya-taichou."

"Shut up!" Hitsugaya finally yelled, his eyes wide open, his lithe body trembling slightly as he breathed heavily.

"Hitsugaya-taichou!" A voice suddenly shouted, forcing the white haired boy's attention on the man standing in the doorway. Hitsugaya breathed heavily as he saw Kuchiki waiting impatiently with an annoyed look on his voice.

"K-Kuchiki-taichou," he muttered, for the first time in his life oddly relieved to see the stoic man. Said man only eyed him with a deadpan look, his dark gleaming eyes seemingly piercing through the smaller boy.

"Hitsugaya-taichou, once you have decided to focus on the tasks at hand you'll notice a number of Menoses have appeared."

The boy's eyes closed as he tried to pick up the monsters' reiatsu. It didn't take long as the Menoses seemed to be in large numbers this time. Were there Vasto Lordes? He frowned deeply as he wondered. Why hadn't he sensed this?

"Please take up your zanpaktou and aid in fending them off," Kuchiki continued before he swiftly but elegantly turned around.

"I'll be going ahead of you. Please do not make me wait," With that, the man left. After a few seconds Hitsugaya heard a 'thud' as a gigai probably fell on the ground and after a while the other captain's reiatsu faded slightly as he moved towards the chaos that was currently going on.

Hitsugaya slowly ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He really had to calm down. He just needed some rest.

_Yes_, that was probably it, Hitsugaya thought with a nod. He stiffly raised himself from his bed, shed off his gigai and sped off to follow the other captain's reiatsu towards the waiting battlefield.

* * *

><p>"Ichigo! How dare you! Leaving me behind like that, don't you have a heart? She's a spawn of evil, of evil I tell you!"<p>

"Shut up," Ichigo groaned as he entered his room, wishing the wild jumping, stuffed lion many mental curses as he sat down at his desk. However, said stuffed animal refused to give up as it jumped on the desk's surface, standing in front of the orange topped boy before resuming its jumping and loud complaining.

"Her needles are lethal! Ichigo, they're deadly! I'm telling you, that child is bent on world destruction purely through the use of… of…" The hyper-active mod-soul paused for a moment, not sure if it actually dared saying it.

"Pink! Yes, you hear that, Ichigo? Pink! The entire world, covered in pink! She'd do it! And she could!" Kon continued jumping up and down continuously, sending many accusations to Ichigo's youngest sister, waving his arms wildly as he tried to keep his friend's attention focused on him.

"Shut up, Kon! You're annoying," Ichigo yelled, swatting the small toy away with ease, hearing some wailing 'Nee-san*' as it landed on the teen's bed.

Sighing deeply, Ichigo opened the book on his desk as he attempted to study. The mock exam for the entrance exams were coming up and he needed to get a good score or the consequences weren't going to be pretty. He didn't want to think about spending even his precious week off in the confines of that dreaded school building while he could be outside, relishing in the steeply dropped temperature and the occasional snowing. The end of January was coming up soon, which meant one week of freedom… One week of doing nothing and a lot at the same time.

Ichigo quickly shook his head, trying to shake the distracting thoughts off so he could focus on his exams. With renewed motivation he stared at the information in front of him, trying to let it soak into his hyperactive brain. However, Ichigo being the person he is, soon had his mind wandering again to everything except for the boring, never-ending texts.

'_That Toushiro kid… He sure was acting strange… Almost… scared? …Nah, probably my imagination.'_

Ichigo shook his head, not managing to figure it out. And he didn't know much about the special shinigami kid-captain to begin with. Last time Toushiro visited and attended his class he had acted very distant, only talking or doing anything in particular if he had a very good reason to do so, and only if it was related to his mission in some way. He'd fought alongside the powerful boy once, when trying to fend off a creepy, feminine tentacle Arrancar. He couldn't even remember his name. Though Ichigo did remember the impressive skills Toushiro had shown back then. He shuddered slightly.

'_Really don't want him as my opponent on the battlefield… Oh, that's right…'_

Ichigo pulled out a piece of paper and quickly, as neat as possible, wrote an address on it. Folding the piece of paper, he put it aside, now determined to continue studying, thinking he'd daydreamed enough already. And he was about to start reading the next chapter in his book when a suffocating pressure fell on him, almost forcing the air out of his body. He heard something shatter downstairs and was about to check it out, but he realized only his father was at home. His sisters were safe and his father had probably broken something in a berserk rage. Again.

Quickly grabbing his shinigami badge without much more thought, he pressed it against his chest and let his physical body fall on the ground, leaving him clad in the traditional black kimono with his trusted, enormous Zangetsu on his back.

"Kon, watch my body," Ichigo yelled though he didn't even wait for an answer. He'd already opened his window, turned around quickly to grab the little piece of paper from his desk and within seconds he was making his way towards the center of the several powerful reiatsu.

* * *

><p>Hitsugaya scowled as he looked around him, observing the absurd number of Menos Grandes that had appeared this time. He was pretty sure he hadn't fought this many opponents at once since the start of this mission. Two small hands gripped his zanpaktou tightly, two emerald orbs fixated at the enemies below and in front of him as his two feet seemed to settle on the non-existent platform in the skies. He threw a quick glance at Kuchiki, who had his usual expression as always, though a glint of battle-readiness could be seen. It appeared the reserved captain was as serious as he himself was. Which was good, he thought with a nod before turning his view at two unique enemies who stood quite some distance away, because this battle was pretty important from the looks of it. For even Arrancars to show up, probably from the Espada ranks, this must be something important in some way.<p>

As much as Hitsugaya would have liked to just stand there and continue thinking, the mindless Adjuchases on the ground started to get rowdy and one of them already initiated an attack on Kuchiki, another one following suit, this time aiming at him. Dodging it with relative ease for now, Hitsugaya gritted his teeth as his frown deepened, the eyebrows angled even sharper than they already were.

'_Seriously, where the hell's Matsumoto when I need her?'_

* * *

><p>"Unare*, Hai Neko!" A strawberry-blond woman yelled desperately as her zanpaktou dissolved into ash, soon enveloping an Adjuchas who was positioned to attack her.<p>

"Ban-kai!" A male yelled out with a deep voice, a redhead this time, smirking arrogantly as he propelled the giant snake-like skeleton into a huge Gillian in front of him. Said abomination screamed in terror for a second before vanishing into thin air. The man chuckled in feigned boredom as the snake wrapped it's body loosely around him.

"Hihio Zabimaru," he growled as he carefully picked his next opponent. There were so many to choose from.

Standing safely on the sidelines was a peculiar man, constantly waving, whistling, cheering and acting like a sixteen year old female cheerleader as his face was constantly hidden behind a fan.

"Ohhhh! Nice one, Matsumoto-san! Ara, Abarai-kun, watch out there. No no no no no, Abarai-kun, please focus on the enemies! Defend the precious shop of a fragile old man, will you?" He languidly waved his hand to divert the other's Renji scowled slightly before shrugging it off, deciding the man wasn't worth his time at the moment and crushed another Adjuchas with his powerful snake's skeleton.

"Yay! Yes, Abarai-kun! That's the way to do it! Ah, good one! Yes! Yes, nice one! Oh, Matsumoto-san, how elegant! Truly moving! Oh my, the next generation's growing up so fast," he wailed dramatically, a hand on his chest while the other covered his eyes elegantly.

* * *

><p>Ichigo felt his stomach twist slightly as he realized two reiatsu's were growing rapidly, though this time belonging to shinigami, one of them most likely Toushiro. He gripped his already unwrapped Zangetsu tighter as he sped up, only occasionally placing his feet on the air to propel himself forward. A deep frown creased the orange topped forehead as Ichigo tried to find the source of those mingling reiatsu's. Tracking said forces down had never been his forte.<p>

Oddly enough, he felt his insides twitch from anticipation. Sure, he didn't exactly enjoy fighting, but somewhere deep inside him he didn't mind a good fight either. It hadn't been that long ago since he learned to control his rather aggressive temper. And so, the corners of his mouth were curled up slightly in anticipation of a challenge.

After a while he finally felt himself approach the battle that was going on and he could faintly see icicles fall from the sky. Toushiro's doing, no doubt.

Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise as suddenly a Hollow jumped at him from below, barely managing to dodge. Halting his movement, Ichigo gripped his zanpaktou with both hands, growling deeply.

"I don't have time for small fry." He charged at the big yet weak monster in front of him. Within seconds he'd slashed the white mask on its face and the gigantic body soon dispersed in thin air. Placing Zangetsu on his back again Ichigo turned around and quickly continued towards the battle in front of him, eager and anxious to find out what the heck was going on.

One minute and two Hollows later he found himself facing what could easily be called 'utter chaos'. He looked around and saw at least twenty Adjuchases crawling on the ground, four Vasto Lordes in the air and two stoic, white clad Arrancars witnessing it all from above. The reiatsu's seemed to come from every possible direction and Ichigo swallowed thickly as he realized this wasn't just a good fight. This was complete madness.

"Oi, don't just stand there!" Ichigo looked around and soon saw none other than Toushiro, Hyourinmaru already released.

"R-Right," he muttered as he tried to regain his senses. A few meters away he saw a cloud of pink shimmers tearing apart two Adjuchases.

'_Heh, so Byakuya's fighting as well,' _Ichigo thought with a smirk, though he couldn't linger on his thoughts much longer as had to evade a Vasto Lorde's Cero fast.

"Damn it, I guess it can't be helped," he groaned as he sped down, deciding to take care of those Adjuchases first.

'_Che, how thoughtless,' _Hitsugaya thought as he followed the substitute shinigami, slashing an Adjuchas that was attempting to attack Ichigo from behind while he was at it.

The utter chaos continued on for quite some time, both sides taking considerable damage as the army of soul-thirsty monsters slowly fell in numbers. After 30 minutes of intense battle only 3 Vasto Lordes and the two Arrancars, who hadn't interfered nor had they been targeted at all throughout the battle, simply observing, were left.

The three shinigami found themselves standing next to each other as they breathed heavily, trying to find the strength to finish the seemingly never-ending battle. Taking out just the Adjuchases was much more of a task than they'd thought and it seemed they were far from done, since the most powerful enemies were still unharmed and most likely full of energy.

Ichigo was the first one to take the initiative again, charging at one of the Vasto Lordes with a surprising amount of renewed strength. However, the Menos Grande dodged the thoughtless attack with disturbing ease, but had its leg soon frozen by the mighty ice dragon that had claimed the sky once again. Ichigo crashed on the ground, having not been able to stop his movement after his opponent had dodged him, and he stayed there for a while, trying to regain his breath that had run out. But taking some rest wasn't meant to be as two Vasto Lordes came from both left and right, forcing Ichigo to jump up and get a better look at the battlefield. However, hovering over him in mid-air was the already waiting third Vasto Lorde which slammed its arm in Ichigo's neck, thrusting him back into the ground again where the two Vasto Lordes on the ground came in for the second time. Thankfully, he was saved by the little captain again who completely froze one of the Vasto Lordes, the other quickly jumping out of the way. Said captain only sighed, being glad he had released his bankai in time.

_One down, two to go._

Ichigo wanted to stand up again, but he felt the world swirl in front of his eyes, actually seeing pretty little stars as he was unable to focus his sight. He groaned as a mind-splitting headache throbbed through his head, making it almost unbearable to move or even see. Trying to clear his sight, he saw another white blur, a Vasto Lorde, heading for him and he silently cursed under his breath, knowing he couldn't evade the incoming attack. However, two wings of massive ice appeared before him, stopping the Hollow's attack and fending it off.

"Kurosaki! Get a grip on yourself!" Hitsugaya roared in frustration. He was having enough trouble fighting for himself and he couldn't constantly watch the less experienced shinigami to prevent him from getting any fatal injuries.

"T-Toushiro…" He muttered faintly. Though when he looked into the other's eyes, as good as he possibly could, he understood the meaning of the snowy haired boy's words.

He had to take care of himself, or others would get hurt.

Ichigo gripped Zangetsu tighter and tried, to the best of his ability, to gather his remaining energy as he clenched his teeth. His patience limit had been reached and he decided this was no time to hold back. Positioning the handle of his zanpaktou in front of his chest he took a deep breath before yelling at the top of his lungs.

"Ban-kai!"

And within seconds a dark energy seemed to envelop the teen, covering him completely, the wind raging wildly around him as his reiatsu increased enormously. Suddenly, the black veil that covered Ichigo was gone, forcefully broken as he stood in his ragged black outfit, the sleek zanpaktou in his hand as he regained his serious, battle-ready look on his face.

"Tensa Zangetsu," he mumbled slightly, only Toushiro hearing it, who was standing close to him. The white haired boy chuckled at the insane amount of reiatsu the substitute shinigami suddenly leaked, even for a bankai released state. But he couldn't amuse himself any longer as the last two Vasto Lordes were already charging at them, both of them moving behind each other in a strict line. Hitsugaya briefly wondered what Kuchiki was doing if they were taking on the remaining Vasto Lordes and from the corner of his eyes he could see the stoic captain already engaging in battle with one of the Arrancars. The only thing that Hitsugaya could think was how typical that was for the older man, always taking on the big guys, leaving the 'small fry' to others. Hitsugaya felt a little disturbed though, seeing how one of the Arrancar remained impassive, never moving and always observing. But he couldn't linger on those thoughts any longer as he barely managed to evade the two Vasto Lordes again that seemed determined to take him down first. With somewhat of a scowl he flew a bit higher, trying to oversee the chaotic situation they so desperately needed to control. Hitsugaya took a last look at the other captain's fight and he was disturbed to see that it wasn't going well for him. The bulky Arrancar he was fighting had an impressive reiatsu of his own, somehow completely overshadowing the reiatsu of the other Arrancar, this one having a rather lithe, fragile build. Was that guy really this good at hiding his reiatsu? Or was he just weak? Hitsugaya shook his head as he switched his gaze towards Kurosaki, who was currently the target of the relentless attacks of the two Vasto Lordes. Whenever Ichigo managed to escape from one corner to another, the other Vasto Lorde was already waiting, which Ichigo would barely manage to avoid by moving away, though the first Vasto Lorde would be waiting for him again.

The frosty captain frowned deeply as he witnessed the battle and decided to interrupt. Gripping Hyourinmaru tightly in his ice encased arm he flew downwards at a steep angle, ready to slash the one oblivious Vasto Lorde with its back turned to him, from above. He was only inches away from the Vasto Lorde's head when its ally slammed itself in his side, making Hitsugaya fly quite some distance away before managing to steady himself again. He wanted to charge back in to take his revenge but his eyes widened in surprise as he suddenly noticed another, significantly weaker reiatsu very close by. Looking around, he suddenly noticed a shinigami* –with a ridiculous afro hairstyle- attempting to attack one of the Vasto Lordes.

"You! Get out of here!" Hitsugaya screamed, trying to get the shinigami's attention.

'_Who is that guy? A shinigami stationed in this area? Damn it, why does he show up now?' _Hitsugaya thought as he gritted his teeth. He quickly took off and approached the obviously weak shinigami as he noticed a Vasto Lorde was charging at the easily overpowered man. Hitsugaya roared in frustration as he reached out Hyourinmaru, hoping he'd get there in time.

And it was only a split-second on time that his zanpaktou deflected the Vasto Lorde's attack. Breathing heavily, he took his stance in front of the shinigami, his back turned towards him, not wanting to look him in the face.

"You. What division are you?" He spat out with more frustration than intended. This, of course, scared the shinigami as he stuttered.

"S-Seventh division, sir. I-I'm sorry, s-sir."

"Never mind that. Just get the hell out of—" Hitsugaya's eyes widened as he suddenly felt a thin, sharp claw pierce his left shoulder from the back, blood slowly oozing out of the wound.

'_T-The third Vasto…Lorde? H-He was frozen…Right?' _Hitsugaya thought as he watched the eerily glowing claw come out of his shoulder.

"H-Hitsugaya-taichou!" The shinigami yelled as he tried to warn him for the incoming enemy but was far too late. Blood splashed out of the rather large wound as the Vasto Lorde withdrew his claw. Hitsugaya fell on his knees as he gripped his shoulder with his right hand, hoping to stop the strong flow of blood that gushed out. His zanpaktou fell on the ground before him. Hitsugaya's vision blurred slightly as saw the Vasto Lorde appear before him and raise its claw for another attack but before he could react a black blur appeared before him, taking the blow in his place. Hitsugaya faintly recognized the orange mob contrasting heavily with the pitch black clothing. He stood up, shakily, grabbing Hyourinmaru desperately from the ground.

Ichigo quickly turned around and kneeled down to meet the boy's pained eyes.

"Toushiro! Are you okay?" He yelled, worry obvious in his cracked voice and desperate expression.

"Baka*! Pay attention to the enemies!" Hitsugaya yelled fiercly, his pain numbing him slowly as he tried to remain alert.

Ichigo hesitated before nodding as he raised himself and turned around, gripping the black, sleek Zangetsu as he wore an extremely dangerous expression on his face.

"Get… the fuck… out of my town!" He yelled, his reiatsu exploding again as his coat started to sway wildly at the pressure he created. The three Vasto Lordes were standing together again, now all three of them having a foreboding glow surrounding their bodies. However, of course, Ichigo paid no attention as he was about to charge at them. But before he could reach the dreaded Menoses a white blur appeared between them, separating himself from the three Hollows.

The Arrancar that had appeared looked at Ichigo with a deadpan expression before turning his attention towards his own ally, who soon stood next to him. Ichigo's lips tightened as he realized Byakuya had probably been defeated.

"Yami," the smaller Arrancar said in a monotone voice, "take the Vasto Lordes back. Aizen-sama will be pleased." The bulky enemy merely grunted as he seemed to slash through the sky, a tear of sorts appearing which showed a sad, black world behind it. Smirking from ear to ear the Arrancar commanded the Vasto Lordes' withdrawal, waiting a second for the three Menos' to enter through the portal before following them himself. The remaining Arrancar looked at Ichigo a bit longer before he also turned around.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, thank you for the amusing data," he said with the same bored voice he'd used previously before also entering the portal and closing it behind him.

Ichigo itched to go after them but he realized that the boy behind him probably needed urgent attention. He turned around quickly to see he was resting limply on the floor, his eyes closed and a not so small pool of blood surrounding him.

"Toushiro!" He yelled as he went over to the boy, hoping he was alright. He tried gently shaking the boy, but there was no response or any other sign of acknowledgement as the wound only expelled more blood.

"Toushiro! Damn it, get a grip of yourself! Toushiro!" Ichigo yelled desperately, though he knew the boy probably couldn't hear him right now.

"Kurosaki Ichigo! Be quiet!" Ichigo forcefully turned around to see Byakuya standing behind him, said man gripping his left side as he tried to remain standing. The captain's usually perfect, clean outfit was smeared with blood, most of it probably his own, and his clothes were torn at practically every edge. But what disturbed Ichigo the most was a strange, foreign glint in the man's usually impassive eyes. It was something he couldn't really place… Though he could only describe it as 'fear'. Fear and bewilderedness. However, his mind soon snapped back towards the boy lying next to him, who was turning paler by the second.

"Can't you see Toushiro's wounded, damn it?" He yelled at the man, his deep frown disturbing his delicate features.

"He only passed out. Probably from blood loss, though he has lost much more in battles fiercer than this" the stoic man answered in his usual calm voice as if he'd announced the most common thing in this world. However, this only agitated Ichigo even more.

"Damn it, it is _because_ he has passed out that I'm worried. Ah, just shut the fuck up, you. He has to get to Inoue, now," he yelled with a trembling voice. He gently picked up the limp boy from the ground and cringed at the amount of blood that kept on flowing from the wound. A small microphone fell to the ground, an ignored, cracked voice coming from the other end of the line.

"Sirs, the barrier is ready. Your seal can be releas-"

Wasting no more time, Ichigo turned around and shunpo-ed away as if it was his own life that depended on it, leaving behind a startled low level shinigami and an ever-impassive captain.

* * *

><p>Urahara Kisuke stood on the veranda of his shop, witnessing the destruction in front of his eyes. The man's eyes couldn't be seen because of the hat he wore and the rest of his face remained hidden behind his ever present fan. But an odd feeling of serenity and seriousness seemed to radiate from him as he eyed the two shinigami that laid sprawled out on the ground before him, both completely drained as they had barely managed to fend off the sudden and surprisingly large attack on the small shop.<p>

"Tessai-san, please take those two inside and patch them up. Be urgent, please," he said without moving a muscle. A deep grunt came from a large man, apparently an acknowledgement as he picked up the two wounded warriors, taking them inside the mysterious shop. Urahara remained completely still for a while longer as seemed lost in his deep, complex and disturbing thoughts. After a few minutes he finally turned around, his fan still in front of his face as he mumbled.

"They could've gone easier on the lawn."

* * *

><p>Inoue's eyes had widened in surprise as Ichigo suddenly stormed her apartment, carrying a bloodstained and heavily bleeding boy in his arms. Ichigo had only screamed some incomprehensible things at her but she knew what had to be done. The boy was soon laying in the middle of the living room, a glowing orange, transparent cocoon surrounding him as his wound closed painfully slow. Inoue's usually carefree and bright face was darkened with worry and exhaustion as she fought to remain focused. She'd been going at it for half an hour already and the single wound was still not completely closed. She was starting to pant slightly as she kept on stretching her arms over the boy, trying to heal him as best as possible.<p>

"Kurosaki-kun…" she silently mumbled, trying to keep herself focused on the task at hand. Ichigo was crouched next to her, watching both of them intensely.

"Inoue, is it working? Why is it taking so long? Please… Tell me he's alright…" he muttered under his breath, a worried frown creasing his forehead, his usually sparkling brown eyes now dull with worry and sadness. Inoue sighed deeply as she kept on putting all her energy in healing the wounded boy in front of her.

"His wound… There's an unusual energy lingering in it… I can't reject it completely. It prevents the wound from closing, so I can't heal him fully. At best…" she breathed deeply, "it'll leave a scar on his shoulder. His shoulder itself should be fine but… This awful, evil feeling just won't go away… It will take at least another half an hour," she mumbled, only loud enough for Ichigo to barely hear her. The usually energetic boy frowned impossibly deeper at his friend's words, wishing he could help in any way.

"Is there… Is there anything I can do?" But Inoue shook her head slightly.

"Just… Stay here, please," she whispered, trying to keep hold back the tears that started to burn in her eyes. Ichigo smiled weakly and nodded, sitting next to the girl in a slightly more comfortable position, never letting both of his allies out of his sight.

* * *

><p>Unusual heavy rain clattered on the windows loudly, a seemingly never ending amount of water falling from the sky. The sun had began to set and streaks of orange, crimson and yellow filled the sky, faintly in the distance the dark-blue sky of the night already visible. Inside the small and cozy apartment the peace and quietness had finally returned after a full hour of intensive labor. A tired female was spread out on the couch, soundly asleep after using up nearly every amount of energy she had in her fragile body. In the bedroom connected to the living room was another one fast asleep, this time a small boy with unique white hair. His upper body had been disposed of its clothing and the sleeping form snuggled under the warm comforter to seek the warmth that it gave. The boy stirred only now and then, too drained to do anything except sleep.<p>

The only resident awake in the apartment was an orange haired boy, wearing an expression far to grave for the settled down mood. Listening quietly to the rain outside, he sat at the table, one clenched hand resting on its surface while he simply stared at the space in front of him as the images of the previous battle flashed in front of his troubled mind. He wanted to forget it for now, but no matter what he tried, he found that he couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling it had given him. That glow surrounding the Menoses at the last moment, the unlikely withdrawal of their enemies while they were clearly winning, the near to impossible healable wound inflicted on the young, but strong captain… And not to forget the most unusual look in the always impassive and arrogant Byakuya's eyes… It all pained the young teen's head as he tried to figure out what exactly had happened, but he refused to give up. However, it showed all to clearly that thinking and figuring things out weren't his best qualities and he soon found himself unable to continue any longer unless he wished for his already insistent headache to get even worse. What he wanted most right now was actually to sleep, but he felt heavily responsible for the two exhausted people that were already taking their much needed rest and he thought there needed to be at least one alert person around, especially after everything that had happened.

Sighing deeply, he raised himself from his chair and walked into the kitchen. Opening the fridge and squinting his eyes at the harsh light, he looked around a bit, hoping to find something edible. Sure enough, there was plenty of food stored in the small space, but the almost disturbing amount of variety in ingredients was something he couldn't even begin to comprehend.

Taking out some eggs, unions, mushrooms, vegetables and other basics he recognized, he placed it all on the counter as he began his search for rice. After a short while he found the all important ingredient stashed behind a lot of pots and pans, of which he took one to prepare all the food in. He wasn't a master chef, not compared to his little sister, but she'd attempted more than once to teach him and apparently it proved to be useful in the current situation. It took the teen a while before he got everything set as he wanted it to but before long a pleasant scent started to spread through the cozy apartment.

After fifteen minutes or so Ichigo placed all the food on the table with a satisfied grin on his face. Yeah, it was looking good, if he could say so himself. He was about to check if his sleeping friends –Ichigo briefly wondered if he could call Hitsugaya his friend already, though getting through battles such as these surely formed a bond, even if you want it or not- but he halted quickly when he saw the small boy standing in the doorway of the bedroom, leaning against the wall as he rubbed his eyes slowly. Ichigo observed the boy carefully and he couldn't help but frown slightly at the thin scar the boy now wore on his left shoulder. It was a whole 4 inches or so long, clearly visible. Despite that, Ichigo couldn't help but chuckle as the boy's hair hadn't lost its gravity-defying abilities, though some spikes were angled differently, probably from sleeping.

"If you're done looking, could you get me a shirt or something?" An annoyed voice said softly. It took a while before Ichigo registered the voice as that of Hitsugaya.

"A-ah, sorry. Your kimono was completely drenched in blood and I kinda ripped it off your body to check and your wound and so Inoue could heal you," Ichigo said with a slight blush as he scratched the back of his head while smiling innocently.

"Whatever, just know it's pretty cold like this."

Ichigo grinned, relieved the boy was seemingly back to his normal self and decided to tease him a bit to lift the mood.

"Oh? The legendary, frosty captain doesn't like the temperature? Hmmm, how unusual." Hitsugaya merely snorted.

"Shut up."

"Also," Ichigo added with a hint of a smirk on his face, "that's the third time already that I've saved your butt." Hitsugaya only scowled deeply.

"Just shut up, will you?"

"Yeah yeah," Ichigo said with a smile. It remained quiet for a little while as they both avoided each other's gazes, not really sure what to say next. However, nothing much was left to be said as the third resident finally woke up.

"Ara, Toushiro-kun, how's your wound doing?" Inoue asked sleepily as she rubbed her eyes before stretching with a small squealing sound. Hitsugaya decided to drop the correction of his name this time, seeing how that woman had just saved his life.

'_Though she better not get used to it,' _he added to his thoughts hastily.

"It's okay, thank you. I guess this scar's all that's left," he said, his eyes dulling slightly as he carefully traced the scar's line with a fingertip.

"Ah, Toushiro-kun, you must be cold. I'm sorry about your kimono," she said while laughing nervously. Hitsugaya blushed slightly.

"It's okay, really."

Inoue seemed to think deeply before a small lamp practically lit above her head as her face turned back towards her usual sparkling self.

"Um, Toushiro-kun, I still have some shirts left that belonged to my older brother. They are probably too big but it might be better than nothing, right?" Ichigo's eyebrows twitched slightly as he remembered what had been left of Inoue's brother at _that_ time. Surely, it was a battle he would never forget, not even if he wanted to. Hitsugaya hesitated for a second but a shiver made him nod quickly.

"Thank you," he replied politely.

And before long the three of them sat at the reasonably filled table (Hitsugaya indeed dressed in a shirt at least 5 sizes to big), all their stomachs growling loudly –Hitsugaya wouldn't admit it though- from everything that had happened that day. They soon devoured all the food that was presented at the table and there was an oddly comfortable silence as they ate. For two of them, the scene was close to the actual family they'd never really had.

**Author's Notes:**

"Juubantai-taichou-han" translates to "Mr. Captain of the Tenth Division", though the Mr part is debatable, but is a translation of the suffix "-san", spoken in dialect. For those who didn't guess already, this is how Ichimaru Gin might address Toushiro.

"Nee-san" is how Kon refers to Rukia, whom he 'adores'.

"Unare" is the release command for Matsumoto's Shikai and translates to "Growl".

The weak shinigami that seems to be permanently stationed in Karakura Town, he is unusually stupid and foolish. His name is Kurumadani Zennosuke.

'Baka' and 'Bakayaro' translate to 'Idiot, idiotic person". Hitsugaya often refers to Ichigo like this.

**In the next chapter of Thawing Walls:**

"What! 30! That's impossible!" Several startled heads turned around to find the source of a very loud voice that echoed through the classroom. One student had jumped up at the first sight of his returned test. The previously occupied chair had fallen back from the sudden rise and connected with the floor with a loud sound, making the moment even more dramatic. The student's eyes widened in surprise and a single finger was pointed accusingly at the glaring mark on his test.

And…

"Stop grinning like that," a deep voice interrupted his thoughts.

"It makes you look even more stupid."

Ichigo feigned hurt as he held his arms in front of his face, as if to shield himself from anymore insults, though it might also have been to hide the grin that only grew wider as he felt a weak spot in the boy's impenetrable façade.

"How cruel."


	4. Chapter 4

**Thawing Walls – Chapter 4**

The sky was covered in a dark blue, almost black veil with a few stars here and there, most of them covered by thick layers of clouds. The temperature had dropped considerably and everything was still damp from the unusual heavy rain. A cold breeze welcomed two teens in its vast expanse of skies as they stepped outside, reluctantly leaving the warm apartment. The smaller of the two bowed politely for the young woman that stood in the doorway before he turned around and started walking. The taller teen took a little more time to say goodbye to his friend before he also turned and jogged a bit to catch up with the white haired boy in front of him.

"Oi, Toushiro, wait up a little, will ya?" Ichigo yelled –though softly and gently- as he caught up with the small boy.

"Hmpf, it's Hitsugaya-taichou. Remember it already, bakayaro" Hitsugaya snorted as he continued walking, not once slowing down or turning to meet the other's face.

"Hey, you don't have to act that cold towards the person who just saved your life, you know," Ichigo said as he feigned hurt, even though Hitsugaya still wasn't bothered to look at him.

"It was Inoue-san who saved me. You didn't."

This did hurt a little.

"H-Hey, I'm the one who carried you to her. And even if you don't look like it, your heavier than I expected, judging from your size," Ichigo said with a smug grin. Surely, it hadn't cost that much effort to carry him, he was as light as possible with that body.

An eyebrow twitched slightly, something it did quite often.

"I'm NOT small," Hitsugaya scowled, increasing his pace slightly. Ichigo couldn't help but chuckle at the boy's typical answer as he let out a deep breath.

"Well, I'm pretty sure I didn't use the word 'small' but now that you say it yourself…" He grinned as they finally made eye contact, even if it was just so the emerald orbs could send countless daggers at him.

But Hitsugaya soon groaned in defeat as he slowed down his pace slightly, now crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Fine. What do you want in return? Don't expect too much, though. You'll regret it." He tried to strengthen his point by sending a dangerous glare towards the other teen but his scowl and slightly flushed cheeks, from the cold, betrayed him. It remained quiet as Hitsugaya waited for an answer. Before anything was said, the teen handed him a piece of paper instead.

A slightly puzzled look appeared on Hitsugaya's smooth face, though his frown came along with many of his other expressions. Nearly all of them, now that Ichigo thought about it.

"Come to my party. Remember? It's in two weeks. We're ordering pizza first after which we'll probably play some games or watch a movie or something like that."

Ichigo looked at his friend expectantly as the piece of paper was carefully observed before shoved in a chest pocket of the -immensely- oversized shirt Hitsugaya was wearing. It remained silent and judging from the boy's scowling face, he wasn't going to say anything. At first Ichigo was slightly disappointed, but he figured that silence was better than getting turned down immediately when dealing with the kid-captain. Sighing quietly, he decided to just remain silent for now and perhaps ask again tomorrow. At least he'd given him the address. That was some something.

No words were spoken for the rest of the walk, but the silence wasn't as uncomfortable normally was. Their chaotic minds relished in the quietness they'd longed for after the long day. The streetlights lightened their path as they walked past many houses and countless streets. All too soon for Ichigo's liking did they come at the intersection where he knew they'd have to part.

Ichigo scratched the back of his head as he hesitated, unsure what to say after the long silence.

"Ummm… Well then… You know…" However he was already interrupted by the cold captain's voice, the deadpan tone hiding everything that went on in that small but brilliant mind.

"Kurosaki, you didn't have to give me your address," Hitsugaya said as he started walking again, taking the left turn at the crossroad. Ichigo was left standing with a puzzled expression.

"Your completely absent control over you idiotic reiatsu makes you pretty hard to miss," Hitsugaya added before disappearing out of sight soon after. Ichigo stared at the place the other had last been standing before chuckling lightly as he shook his head.

"Arrogant little bastard."

Grinning, he turned right. His house was already in sight. With practiced ease he reached his window and knocked gently, waiting for the irritating and rarely useful mod-soul to open it. It took a few seconds but he soon stood in his own room again, picking up his physical body with a deep breath. Before he knew it he was already back in it, brushed his teeth and he undressed before slipping between the covers of his bed.

_Finally… Ah, crap, can't forget to pick up the keys tomorrow! I should start packing as well._

With a groan Ichigo turned around, facing away from Kon, who decided it wasn't a wise action to disturb him now. He feared he'd be placed in the room next to this one for the night and he couldn't help but shudder at the thought before he allowed himself to fall in a corner and also take some rest.

* * *

><p>-Three days later-<p>

"What! 30! That's impossible!" Several startled heads turned around to find the source of a very loud voice that echoed through the classroom. One student had jumped up at the first sight of his returned test. The previously occupied chair had fallen back from the sudden rise and connected with the floor with a loud sound, making the moment even more dramatic. The student's eyes widened in surprise and a single finger was pointed accusingly at the glaring mark on his test. The teen remained standing as he refused to acknowledge and accept his utter failure, thinking if he'd point at it long enough the '30' would eventually change into an '80'*.

"Oh, c'mon Ichigo, it's not that big of a deal. These weren't even the mock exams yet," a boy next to Ichigo said while waving his hand in a nonchalant manner. It was apparently a classmate of his, and probably one of his friends as well.

"Che, you've got it easy, Mizuiro. At least you managed to get 60," Ichigo whimpered with obvious envy. He took a deep breath as he pulled his chair back up and collapsed on it, a dreary look scarring his features.

"Oh man, I'm so screwed. There goes my vacation... And my future for that matter," he uttered with a deep groan. He suddenly grabbed the sides of his small desk and was about to trash his head into it numerous times but a voice from behind stopped him just in time.

"Stop pitying yourself. It's not the end of the world."

Ichigo growled at the down-to-earth manner he was spoken to and violently turned around to see Hitsugaya sitting at his desk, his arms crossed and a trademark scowl ever present on his face. Ichigo was about to yell back an angry remark but his eyes wandered to the paper on the boy's desk and he could only gasp as he saw an elegant, big '100' on top. The mark only matched -with difficulty- by Ishida Uryuu. After the initial shock had passed Ichigo turned around childishly, feeling defeated.

"Well, excuse me for not being as brilliant as you are," he answered with a pout on his face as he continued staring at his own red-covered test, each fat line indicating one of many errors.

"Besides, instead of telling me to stop complaining, you might as well help me, you know," Ichigo mumbled. He couldn't see the other's face, but the snort told him enough.

"Bakayaro," Hitsugaya said with a hint of a sigh.

"Is that a yes?" Ichigo asked as he turned around to face him again, now a hopeful expression plastered on his face. The other didn't even bother to reply as the school bell rang. Hitsugaya took his bag in one hand and his test in the other and swiftly left the classroom. Ichigo was left with a somewhat dumbstruck expression as he shook his head and his shoulders sagged in desperation.

He was tempted to leave his test behind but reluctantly shoved it in his bag, thinking he'd learn from his mistakes some time later. After saying goodbye to his friends, he rushed through the hallways, skipping quite the number of steps on the stairs. He fumbled excitedly with his keys to open his locker and take out his jacket, closing it with a wild push. With his bag and jacket in one hand, he sprinted towards the entrance, trying to catch the sight of his last hope.

"Oi, Toushiro!" Ichigo yelled excitedly as he waved his arms to catch the other's attention. He caught the attention of everyone present in front of the school building except for the intended person, who happened to be his target and was currently ignoring him as he disappeared out of sight. However, Ichigo didn't feel like failing for the second time that day. Breathing in deeply, he took a sprint. Again, all eyes were fixed on him but he didn't seem to care. Perhaps he didn't even notice it. He ran around the corner and saw a white mob of hair in the distance, walking at a remarkably fast pace.

"Hey! Toushiro," Ichigo yelled again, the addressed boy still not stopping. Ichigo groaned deeply as he quickened his pace slightly and eventually caught up. A callused hand reached out for the small shoulder in front of him but before he could touch him, the other turned around. An eyebrow was twitching violently, a vein was dangerously throbbing and a pair of cerulean green orbs was sending him more than one death wish.

"It's Hitsugaya-TAICHOU!" The small boy yelled angrily. "Remember it already!" He said before turning around again and continuing his fast pace. Ichigo was slightly startled at the sudden burst of the smaller boy and he pursued him, an apologetic smile on his face.

"A-Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to make you that angry." His only reply was a snort. Ichigo acrobatically evaded the numerous other students on the streets while Hitsugaya seemed to slip past them with ease.

"Ummm… Can I ask you something, Toushi—" He managed to stop himself right on time, sensing he would really be pushing his luck to continue addressing the strict little captain casually. It remained silent for a little while as he continued following Hitsugaya.

"What is it," the boy finally asked, giving subtle permission for Ichigo to talk again.

"W-Well," Ichigo said as he scratched the back of his head with a nervous smile, "I wasn't joking earlier. I mean, the test we got back today was only regular practice, so it's no big deal I screwed up, but the real mock exam is in 5 days." They finally got out of the massive stream of students as they entered an ally. "If I don't score well on the mock exam, I'm gonna have to follow extra lessons during vacation if I want to stand a chance at the really real entrance exams.*" Ichigo searched for some kind of response from the boy who still refused to look at him but found none, so he kept on talking.

"I so don't want to lose my vacation but I also _really, really_ want to get into Tokyo's Medical University! The thing is though… Their entrance exam is, like, incredibly hard. And I'd rather drop dead than ask Ishida for help, so you're basically my only chance! Please, help me prepare for the mock exam!" Ichigo pleaded, his hands tightly pressed together in front of his bowed head. Hitsugaya finally stopped walking, about six feet away from the other. He remained quiet for a while as he contemplated what to do next. After a short assessment of the anticipated pros and cons, he eventually spoke up:

"Fine. But that will make us even. I will have no obligation to come to your party if I help you with this," Hitsugaya stated, not leaving any room for debate. But it was enough to light up Ichigo's face, a huge smile on his face as he quickly walked up to his newly appointed tutor.

"Thank you! Thank you so much, Toushiro," Ichigo said, trying not to grasp the boy's shoulders in delight. But in his excitement he'd forgotten the boy's sensitivity for his title and it immediately showed in the deep scowl on said boy's face.

"One condition is that you _have got_ to call me Hitsugaya-taichou. I'm telling you, forget it one more time and this whole thing's over." Hitsugaya tried his best to sound firm and commanding but he feared it wouldn't get through to the other's hyper and excited mind anymore. Shaking his head, he took out his cellphone and send a short message to Kuchiki's phone, asking if he could cover for him for the next few hours. He didn't feel comfortable asking anything of the other captain, but he secretly didn't mind not having to deal with annoying lower lever Hollows.

In the meantime, Ichigo was nearly jumping as he walked in front of Hitsugaya.

"Well then, let's go, shall we? I got the key to my apartment a few days ago, and I immediately brought over most of my stuff, I really want to show you!" He yelled in childish excitement as he punched into the air, making Hitsugaya shake his head with a deep sigh.

"Just what have I gotten myself into," he muttered. Ichigo laughed quietly now as he tried to reign himself in. With a somewhat discontent look on his face, Hitsugaya walked next to Ichigo, who was leading the way to his new apartment. Ichigo, in turn, took a while to get accustomed to Hitsugaya's walking pace, which was oddly fast for someone with such short legs. Of course, all his captain duties had made sure he was agile and fast-moving. And because of that, it took them only a few minutes to reach Ichigo's apartment. Hitsugaya looked up at the rather big complex, faintly wondering how many apartments the building held. He waited for Ichigo to find the appropriate key and nodded politely as the other let him go in first. He, in turn, waited for Ichigo to walk in front of him again, ascending a number of stairs before standing still in front of one particular door. Ichigo again fumbled with the many keys he had until he found the right one and as he opened the door he signaled for Hitsugaya to go in first.

"Excuse me*," Hitsugaya mumbled to no one in particular as he entered the living room, looking at the inside of the small and cozy apartment. Ichigo reached out his hand and Hitsugaya wondered for a second before he got the sign and gave him his jacket. While he waited for Ichigo to finish putting away their jackets he decided to casually walk around in the living room. He looked out the window and noticed Ichigo had a decent view. His apartment was on the fourth floor after all. He could even see the school building in the far distance, the groups of black mass, students wearing the traditional uniform, were scattered in the surrounding area. His gaze then switched back to the inside of the apartment. It was rather simple, in a corner a single couch in front of a low table and a television not too far behind it. There was a very small kitchen as well, and some sort of dining table with 3 chairs. There were also two doors, one probably leading to the bathroom and the other to Ichigo's bedroom. Besides that, several boxes were placed unsystematically on the ground, most likely yet to be unpacked. He simply stood there as he waited for Ichigo to make the next move. His eyes wandered the room and he soon found the teen with his head buried in the opened fridge.

"Want something to drink?" Ichigo's muffled voice asked.

"Yes," he answered shortly.

"Well, I don't have much yet, but what would you like?"

"Anything cold will be fine." He heard Ichigo mumble something else which he didn't quite get before the other finally pulled his head out of the fridge, closing it with a gentle nudge of his foot. He poured something in two glasses before handing one to Hitsugaya. Said teen looked at the clear blue liquid, eyeing it suspiciously.

"What is it?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Some kind of new soda. They only sell it at the convenience store down the street. Trust me, it's really good!" He said with a reassuring smile before heading towards the door that led to the bedroom.

"Well then, let's get this over with, shall we?" Ichigo said with a somewhat grim expression on his face, the mere thought of intense studying sending shivers down his spine. He'd rather fight off some Hollows, that's for sure. He opened the door after he grabbed his discarded school bag he'd thrown in a corner and motioned for Hitsugaya to come in. The frosty captain took a sip of his drink before entering the other's bedroom. It was cleaner than he'd expected. Only one shirt and a pair of socks were carelessly thrown in a corner, the bed was actually made and the desk seemed to be surprisingly spotless, though that was probably from lack of use. And he was going to have to change that, Hitsugaya thought as he sighed deeply.

* * *

><p>Orange eyebrows were knitted together tightly which caused a forehead to be creased with wrinkles resulting from the deep frowning. A small drop of sweat ran down the side of his head as the teen desperately tried to maintain his deep focus.<p>

"Through what hormone does glucose become glycogen," a calm, deep voice said. It remained silent for a while as the normally hyperactive teen was trying his best to dig into his memory, recalling the effects of the specific hormone.

"Insuline?" He eventually answered with obvious doubt in his voice. The other gave only silence as a confirmation, already continuing.

"Which is the resistant version of Diabetes?" the voice again said.

"Type 2?" The teen answered with a concerned and doubtful tone again. A slight nod, unnoticeable for the untrained eye, was given as confirmation before the next question was thrown at the mentally exhausted teen.

"What is the effect of glucocorticoids on the immune system?" Hitsugaya asked as he looked up from the biology textbook for the first time to look at Ichigo. It remained silent and when Ichigo finally did speak up he had a dumbstruck expression on his face.

"Gives it wings?" He said while laughing nervously, watching as a vein started throbbing on his new tutor's forehead.

"Kurosaki," he mumbled in a low voice, "take this seriously or the whole thing is over." It wasn't even a warning, it was an order. Ichigo allowed his shoulders to sag.

"Oh c'mon, Tou— I mean, we've been studying for two hours already. I've really reached my limit, you know!"

"Study only when you feel like it and you'll spend the rest of your life on the streets. Put some effort into it!"

An adorable and childish pout showed up on the addressed teen.

"I'm doing my best! Really, memorizing this kind of stuff just isn't my thing, okay? Besides, I think we've gotten pretty far already… Because of your help of course," Ichigo quickly added, genuine appreciation in his voice. Hitsugaya sighed in defeat. He had to admit Ichigo had made more progress than he expected after just two hours. But still—

Hitsugaya's thoughts were interrupted by a loud grumbling sound and he looked up to see Ichigo rubbing his own stomach with an idiotic grin on his face.

"Looks like I've gotten pretty hungry. Well," he said as he took a look at his watch, "it's already 6:30 pm, so we might as well get something to eat. You hungry as well?"

Hitsugaya shook his head in denial. His stomach wasn't grumbling as loud as Ichigo's but in the back of his head he had to admit he could actually use some food right now. Cursing the gigai's humane weakness, he evaded the other's eyes.

"Not really." But Ichigo had already taken the hint and lifted himself from his chair, collecting the many books covering the floor and placed them on his desk.

"I'll take that as a yes," Hitsugaya scowled but Ichigo continued, "and I'd take you to my old place, 'cause Yuzu's cooking is really, really good but my dad might just scar you for life, so we'll just grab a bite outside, okay?" Ichigo asked, trying to pretend he didn't notice the faint wince on the boy's face when he used the word 'scar'. Ichigo didn't wait for an answer as he grabbed the smaller teen's left shoulder and gently pulled him from his sitting position. Of course, this wasn't appreciated much by the cold captain as he swatted away Ichigo's hand. Hitsugaya rubbed his left shoulder, trying to ease the constant soreness but his face remained impassive as ever, save for the scowl.

"Fine," he eventually gave in, stretching his tired legs from the long sit. They both exited the bedroom and made their way for the door. Hitsugaya gave a polite nod as he accepted his jacket and allowed Ichigo to walk in front of him down the stairs. He ignored the goofy grin the taller teen gave him and shoved his hands into his pockets, letting Ichigo lead the way.

"So, what do you want? There's a mall not too far away from here and they've got practically everything there." Ichigo eyed him expectantly but he only got a look that told him 'I don't care'. He shrugged as he started walking.

"You really are hopeless, you know," he muttered, knowing Hitsugaya could hear him. The other didn't give off any sign of acknowledgement as he kept walking next to Ichigo, his eyes fixed on whatever was in front of him, never once changing his deadpan expression. Ichigo sighed.

'_So much for conversation, huh? Oh well, getting some dinner, that's good enough,' _he thought as his grin returned on his face. He couldn't help but wonder why he grinned so much around the smaller boy or why he even felt as light-hearted as he did because his companion wasn't exactly one to lift the mood.

"Stop grinning like that," a deep voice interrupted his thoughts.

"It makes you look even more stupid."

Ichigo feigned hurt as he held his arms in front of his face, as if to shield himself from anymore insults, though it might also have been to hide the grin that only grew wider as he felt a weak spot in the boy's impenetrable façade.

"How cruel."

* * *

><p>"Tonkotsu ramen, please."<p>

"Huh? Oh, c'mon, you can order something fancier than that, you know! It's my treat, so you can take something more expensive, okay?"

"Ramen will be just fine."

The enthusiastic teen sighed deeply as he shook his head, taking another look at the chart. After frowning unusually deep, he finally looked up at the patiently waiting, ever-smiling waitress who returned his gaze with an expecting look.

"Well alright… A steak for me!" He said with an exaggerated nod before handing the chart back to the young lady who accepted them gratefully, probably just happy they'd finally made their choice.

"Hmmm, I should've taken something more festive though…" Ichigi complained childishly. The small teen sitting in front of him scoffed slightly at his remark, now actually looking at Ichigo when he talked.

"Festive? It's way too early for that, bakayaro. We're not celebrating anything." Ichigo merely laughed as he waved it off.

"Oh, don't worry about it that much! Besides, it actually is a celebration! I've regained my hope and motivation to study for the upcoming mock exam," he clenched his fists and Hitsugaya could swear he saw little flames burning in the hyperactive teen's eyes.

"Che, getting fired up of because of something like that. Let's see your mark before you even start thinking about celebrating." Hitsugaya observed as the carrot topped teen's facial expression cooled down.

"Well, with your help, I'm sure I can get a passing grade," Ichigo said, flashing his trademark grin, dubbed as 'stupid' by Hitsugaya. The boy was surprisingly taken back by Ichigo's statement and the confidence he seemed to have in his help. However, he could quickly erase all evidence of that from his face.

"Well, you're going to have to do that exam on your own. Remember, if you want a passing grade, then you are the one who's going to have to work for it."

"Yeah yeah, just let me enjoy my rush, will ya?" Ichigo said as the little flames in his eyes died out, coldly blown out by his tutor's words. Ichigo sighed deeply as he looked at the small figure sitting in front of him, that face so perfectly still and expressionless save for the usual frown, the eyes gazing at whatever was in sight with complete disinterest. An uncomfortable silence fell over the two as they didn't speak up for another minute, Ichigo constantly switching his gaze between Hitsugaya's face and the door where the waitress would be coming through to bring their food.

"S-So," he started hesitantly while rubbing the back of his neck just to keep his hands busy, "how's Byakuya?" Ichigo desperately sought for a hint of emotion on the other's face, but he couldn't find any, even when the other spoke up.

"Kuchiki-taichou is fine. There isn't a reason he wouldn't be."

"Well… He did have this weird kind of expression in his eyes after the last battle," Ichigo slowly murmured as he recalled the fight just a few days ago and the events afterwards.

"Weird?" Hitsugaya asked, the slightest amount of curiosity noticeable in his voice.

"Yeah, didn't you see it… Well, I guess you didn't, since you were unconscious after all… Oh well, it was probably nothing," Ichigo goofily waved his hand as if to shake off his uneasiness, and he mentally smacked himself as he saw Hitsugaya's frown deepen, the boy now lost in his complex thoughts.

'_Oh crap… I got him brooding…'_

Luckily, the waitress chose that moment to bring them their drinks, forcing Hitsugaya to snap out of his thoughts so he could politely bow his head in appreciation. To prevent the prodigy captain from overthinking, Ichigo decided to keep talking.

"So, do you know anything about TMU?"

Hitsugaya gave him a questioning, albeit disinterested look.

"Tokyo Medical University!" Ichigo exclaimed with sparkles in his eyes. "I really want to study there to become a doctor… Move to Tokyo, live the big city life!" Ichigo sighed dramatically at the thought. "And then eventually come back here, to Karakura, and take over my dad's clinic. I want to help the people here as much as I can. I'm actually thinking about specializing in pediatrics, you know, care for children." Hitsugaya's face remained emotionless, but he did seem to listen. However, Ichigo still suspected the other boy of brooding over his own previous remark about the other captain. Thankfully, the food was brought to their tables at that moment. Ichigo couldn't quite get rid of his mixed feelings but as always the scent of food had him thoughtless in a mere second. He nodded in polite appreciation at the young lady who left quickly, intimidated by Hitsugaya's gaze. Swallowing thickly, Ichigo picked up the large can of water on the middle of their small table.

"Want some water," he asked with a somewhat forced grin. The other nodded slightly and Ichigo carefully poured the clear liquid into Hitsugaya's glass, before filling his own. Gently placing the can back, he looked at Hitsugaya for a split second before picking up his fork and knife in his hands, playfully tapping the table. With a large, honest smile he looked at his food.

"Alright! Itadakimasu!" He yelled quite loudly, making Hitsugaya's eyebrow twitch slightly. However, the boy took up his chopsticks and also quietly murmured the usual phrase. And for the next few minutes they ate in silence, though this time the lack of words wasn't really a problem. They had their food as an excuse. Also, they'd spoken with each other quite a lot already that day. It was very unusual for the introverted prodigy captain.

At that moment, Hitsugaya's phone decided to go off, the beeping sound immediately disrupting the previously comfortable silence the two had shared. Ichigo grimaced slightly as he saw Hitsugaya picking up his phone, looking at it with an obviously concerned face.

"Are you really going to—" Ichigo wanted to finish his question but to his surprise the workaholic actually put his phone away as he took up his chopsticks again.

"I asked Kuchiki-taichou to cover for me today, remember. It's just a bunch of Hollows, so it would be an insult to show up now," Hitsugaya spoke in a calm manner. Of course, Ichigo wasn't about to complain. It meant they could just continue their dinner peacefully, no matter how odd the atmosphere was.

"By the way, I never really got why you are here in the first place. I mean, isn't it strange for Soul Society to send out two captains? Isn't that Aizen guy cooking up some sorta plan?" Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow at Ichigo's question, somewhat surprised that the substitute shinigami even thought about things like that.

"Arrancar attacks on Soul Society have been decreasing lately. While that could just be the calm for the storm, Menoses have been appearing in large quantities lately in this world. That's why we were send, along with our vice-captains." Ichigo's face lit up at the mention of the vice-captains.

"Oh! So, Rangiku-san and Renji are here as well? Hmmm… I bet Renji's freeloading off of Urahara-san again. And Rangiku-san? She staying with Inoue again?" Hitsugaya merely nodded. Ichigo seemed satisfied for a while before he finally realized something, a puzzled look on his face.

"But, if she's staying with Inoue, then why wasn't she there when we barged in after the battle?"

"Apparently, Urahara-shoten was attacked at the same time we fought our battle. She rushed over to fight the Menoses with Abarai." Hitsugaya took his time to stuff some ramen in his mouth, gently chewing. When he looked up he saw Ichigo looking at him expectantly, resulting in a scoff from the boy.

"They got injured in the battle, but they're doing okay now. I visited them earlier." Ichigo nodded thoughtfully as he finally seemed to get it.

"Aha. So that's why they didn't join up with us… And, did Urahara-san fight as well?" A small grin appeared on his face as he thought of the almost senile man fighting, though a shudder ran down his spine as he remembered the time when the shopkeeper had released his zanpaktou just so Ichigo could learn Zangetsu's name.

"No. He mumbled something about not wanting to mess up his lawn. But surely they weren't that strong to threaten Matsumoto and Abarai's lives, or else he'd surely have fought with them," Hitsugaya mumbled. Ichigo laughed nervously as he doubted that last statement, not sure if the old man would ever overcome his apparent resentment of fighting, seeing how he never fought any of the Arrancar's that came to Karakura, not even if there were lives at stake.

Ichigo eventually shook of those thoughts, the deep thinking was making his head ache slightly. So instead, he stuffed his mouth full with a big chunk of meat, enthusiastically chewing as he watched the smaller boy shake his head at his manners. Ichigo just grinned, taking a large gulp of water to clear his throat.

"Oh well, since we don't have to worry about that, how about we have a little toast?" Hitsugaya frowned a little deeper at the randomness of the proposal, scoffing with a discontent look.

"This isn't a celebration, remember? Who would toast for no reason?" Of course, Ichigo waved it off easily.

"Oh, c'mon! We do have a little celebration. Here, take some more water," he said as he refilled both their glasses before holding his one high above his head. Hitsugaya shook his head, before giving in surprisingly easily, grabbing his glass but not raising it one bit. A faint red streak could be noticed on his face if you looked carefully.

"To Hitsugaya Toushiro's work free day!" Ichigo yelled excitedly, not caring about the several heads that turned their way.

"And to Kurosaki Ichigo's exams, on which he'll get a perfect score! Kanpai!" He yelled again, clinging his glass with Hitsugaya's, though he had to practically bent over the table to reach the other's glass which wouldn't move an inch. Hitsugaya watched as the orange topped teen gulped down his water quickly before placing his glass back on the table rather loudly, a content sigh escaping his lips.

"You're getting overconfident, bakayaro," he mumbled as looked Ichigo in the eye. However, he quickly averted his gaze when Ichigo had that stupid twinkle in his eyes again, making him look like a five year old who just received a new toy.

It was with difficulty that he suppressed the nearly unnoticeable tug at the corners of his mouth.

**Author's Notes:**

Tests in Japanese schools are rated on a scale from 0 to 100 points, the latter being a perfect score.

Universities in Japan often have their own special entrance exams that students must take when they apply. Mock exams are held to help prepare students for the real entrance exams and thus, mock exams are often viewed as very important.

Japanese people often politely say "excuse me, pardon me" when they enter someone else's home.

**In the next chapter of Thawing Walls:**

Within a second Ichigo realized what he was doing and mentally slapped himself at what he had thoughtlessly done. However, the bathroom door was already wide open by now, hot steam escaping and dispersing into the cool living room. Ichigo stammered helplessly as he recognized the smaller boy's form, the steam not concealing much. Ichigo desperately closed his eyes and held his hand in front of them to add to the effect. But it was too late.

And…

It wasn't before Ichigo had seen the naked, surprisingly well-defined torso, the lean and very slightly muscled arms as well as two cute small shoulders, the one on the right, being the boy's left shoulder, still bearing a thin scar. Going lower on the mental image now burned into his mind, there were two tiny pink nipples and even lower his gaze had also caught the sight of a small and daringly cute bellybutton. His eyes had almost travelled even lower but Ichigo had managed to stop himself just in time. After all, he still had the respect and decency not to look at things he wasn't supposed to see…


	5. Chapter 5

**Thawing Walls – Chapter 5**

Thick, dark clouds kept hovering in the skies, covering their complete expanses and making it impossible to clearly see the weakly shining sun. A rather strong wind blew through the streets, rustling little pieces of junk on the ground and creating small waves in the pools of rainwater that had formed in crevices of the pavement.

Every house had their doors and windows shut tightly, sure not to let any of the intruding, cold weather inside while the heating was turned up several notches. Only in one little apartment, almost in the center of the usually bustling town, was the window opened slightly, allowing the coldness to circulate in the room and cool it down slightly. The only audible sound in the room was the hesitant, sometimes irritated scribbling of a pencil. A tall teen sat at his desk, his head bowed till it was only inches removed from his desk's surface. A lamp on his desk was positioned so that it lit the piece of paper he was feverishly writing on. Another teen who was considerably shorter yet much more relaxed sat on the only other chair in the room, his overall demeanor completely still while his eyes nearly raced over the numerous letters of the book he was currently reading. Both were in complete silence to preserve their deep concentration, neither making any unnecessary sound or movement save for the pair of eyes moving over the pages and the hand that forcefully guided the pencil. They almost looked oddly similar to anyone who would have the privilege of observing them at that moment. Though, if one looked carefully a considerable difference could be noticed. The teen reading the book had an alert but relaxed posture, his breathing soft and regular. The teen sitting at the desk, scribbling away on his paper was slightly agitated, the moving of his pencil becoming more hastily and less accurate with the second. The pace of the pencil being dragged over the paper increased continuously until the teen violently scratched the pencil over the paper with a nasty sound and slammed his fist on his desk to add to the dramatic effect.

"Mou! This is impossible! Impossible I tell you! Who could ever solve this? Oi, Toushiro, come over here, will you?"

A distant sigh could be heard as a book was gently closed and the small teen slowly rose from his comfortable position to walk over to the desk, taking a few seconds to glance at the now harassed piece of paper with nothing readable left on it.

"Kurosaki, try harder, will you. These math problems are not _that_ difficult. Besides, you were the one who toasted on getting a perfect score, right? Solve those problems correctly and you're that much closer to realizing that claim."

Ichigo grimaced as he realized he had actually said that, though only in a rush of excitement. He hadn't meant it literally…

"I know, I know. But still… They're too hard okay?" The desperate statement made Hitsugaya sigh deeply as he pinched the nose of his bridge, trying to keep his temper. He often yelled at Matsumoto but he always knew it wouldn't have any effect. Yelling at Kurosaki now would probably have _some _effect, though most likely the opposite of what he tried to achieve. So instead, Hitsugaya picked up the other's textbook, flipped a few pages back and returned it on the table with a soft 'read this again' before he turned around and took his seat next to the bed again as he picked up his own book.

"Keep trying," he mumbled, knowing Ichigo could hear him. Ichigo subconsciously raised an eyebrow as he was sure he had detected a hint of encouragement in the other's usual deadpan voice. With a deep breath he took a new piece of paper, scribbling some little things at the top first before trying to solve the math problems again. He heard the boy behind him pick up the cup of tea he'd prepared for himself earlier, taking an inaudible sip of it before placing it back. Slightly shaking his head and with a minor tug at the corners of his mouth Ichigo started working again, the pencil moving much more calmly now. Meanwhile, Hitsugaya was reading his book, one arm resting on his stomach while the other held his book at eyelevel.

The two remained like that for what may have seemed like an eternity to those two, but what was only five minutes in reality. The peace was disturbed by a vibrating sound coming from Hitsugaya's pocket, the loud beeping sound switched off for a change. But the effect was still the same as the book was carefully yet swiftly discarded on the bed as the phone was already taken out. Of course, the previously studying Ichigo had turned around, suspiciously eyeing Hitsugaya who was reading the message. After a few moments the phone was back in his pocket and Hitsugaya lifted himself from his chair and took out a small green pill*. He was about to pop the little candy-like mod-soul in his mouth but Ichigo's voice interrupted him.

"Wait, Toushiro. You can use my badge," Ichigo opened his drawer and took out his shinigami badge, offering it to Hitsugaya. The boy hesitated for a second but soon decided that using a mod-soul wasn't needed since his body would be safe with the other.

"Thanks," Hitsugaya mumbled as he took the badge and pressed it against his tiny chest. The now lifeless gigai fell on the floor with a thud as Hitsugaya stood proudly in his shinigami outfit, the white haori as spotless as ever. The shinigami captain nodded at Ichigo while he returned the badge and he then moved to the already open window. He was about to jump out when he heard another thud. Turning around, he saw Ichigo in the traditional black kimono, a confident grin on the orange-topped face.

"Stay here. Finish those problems," Hitsugaya whispered softly, though with a certain commanding tone, one his division members had never been able to disobey. His busty vice-captain, of course, was the only exception.

"No way, I'm helping you. I could use some exercise, actually."

"No. It's just some Hollows. They're weak, so don't waste your time on them. Instead, focus on having those problems solved when I get back," Hitsugaya's attitude was demanding and firm. Ichigo let out a deep breath in defeat as he slipped back into his body and allowed himself to fall back on his chair with a pout on his face.

"Fine," he mumbled as he turned the chair and reluctantly picked up his pencil.

"Have some more confidence in yourself. You're capable of more than you think." Both noticed an unprecedented gentleness in those last words, creating a small moment of uncertainness. Shaking it off, Hitsugaya gave Ichigo one last glance to check if he was really working before jumping out of the window. It had starting raining softly again, gradually coloring his clothes a darker shade.

* * *

><p>Hitsugaya grumbled as he slashed down another Hollow with practiced, battle-worn ease, the weak creatures no match for the powerful prodigy captain. With Hyourinmaru still in his sealed state he plunged through another particular Hollow, the deafening scream more like a howl of victory for the young shinigami.<p>

'_How troublesome. These ones are weak. Perhaps I've grown used to the Vasto Lordes and Arrancars.' _

With a groan he crushed yet another Hollow that had appeared only 2 seconds earlier.

'_No wonder Kuchiki-taichou had agreed to take the day off in return for earlier. These ones aren't worth two captains' attention… What the hell are Matsumoto and Abarai doing? They are more enough for this level of battles.'_

With his usual scowl he finally beheaded the last Hollow, the large black body dispersing into thin air within seconds. Relieved, he sheathed Hyourinmaru on his back. Taking a good look around to make sure he'd gotten them all, he then started walking back to Kurosaki's apartment. He didn't bother using shunpo, secretly enjoying the coldness that surrounded him because of the increasingly heavy rain. It had been a while since he felt familiar low temperatures, seasons weren't that extreme in Soul Society.

One particular raindrop fell from a pluck of hair onto his lips, though the small amount quickly got lost in the downward flow of water on the boy's face. Some of the droplets actually crept inside his clothes , gently tickling the skin of his chest.

His mind began to wander.

'_That idiot. How can he be so carefree?'_

Hitsugaya felt a scowl coming up again as his thoughts had drifted to the substitute shinigami who had begged him to help prepare for the upcoming exams. The unspoiled white-haired boy shook his head slightly, causing more droplets to fall down from the tips of his spikes. Hitsugaya had to admit that the teen's powers in battle were impressive. He may not look like it but Kurosaki's stubbornness combined with that insane reiatsu of his had saved not only his own life but of his friends and even comrades of Hitsugaya numerous times.

'_Still,' _he thought with a frown, '_the baka could use some more brains to fill his ridiculous head.'_

A twinge of something he couldn't quite describe in his stomach stopped his movements.

'_Well… I suppose I should give him some more credit… A little bit.'_

With that thought he approached the large building he'd left only fifteen minutes earlier, taking a breath before jumping up the wall and reaching Kurosaki's window within a second. The idiot had actually left it wide open. He chuckled lightly when he saw that Ichigo was truly working, his head bowed over his desk in deep concentration. Hitsugaya settled a little more comfortably in the window opening, somewhat amused that the teen had not noticed his presence yet. He watched as Ichigo had his eyes half closed, the pencil coming to a stop after a few seconds before quickly correcting something small. Hitsugaya suddenly shook his head as he caught himself looking at the always obnoxiously loud teen with slight interest. Letting his small feet gently touch the floor, he allowed his presence to be known by the other. Ichigo immediately looked up from his desk and smiled widely.

"Okairi!*" Ichigo sang happily. He looked at the boy standing before him, completely unscathed from the previous battle though probably soaked up to his skin, small droplets of water falling down on his carpet. Ichigo spun around on his chair and picked up a towel he'd already prepared and threw it to the soaked boy. Hitsugaya only scoffed though silently accepted the towel gratefully. He dried his face first and pushed away the small strand of hair that always fell in front of his face as the pluck had been sticking uncomfortably to his face. None of the spikes had lost their gravity defying capabilities.

"Thanks." The answer was brief as he quickly continued. "I only came to tell you that I'm going home to take a shower." Stepping into a gigai while your spiritual form was wet always led to an uncomfortable sensation. Hitsugaya turned around quickly to hide the slight hint of red that covered his face, burying it in the fluffy towel as he told himself it was all because of the sudden difference in warmth from out- and inside. Of course, a shinigami captain with a weather-commanding zanpaktou wouldn't be that easily affected by such a minor temperature change.

"Ah, don't bother going all the way home! You can take a shower here if you want," Ichigo offered with an amused smile. Hitsugaya really resembled a soaked kitten like that, small droplets of water lingering on his clothes. If only he'd take that annoyed scowl of his face he'd actually be…

Hitsugaya hesitated for a moment, contemplating his options. He really wanted to take a shower as soon as possible but taking it here was way out of his preferred comfort zone. He scowled deeper as he couldn't decide, but eventually the uncomfortable sticking feeling of his clothes won.

"Fine. Show me the bathroom," Hitsugaya couldn't help but feel slightly flustered as he asked that, before adding a hesitant 'please'. Of course, Ichigo didn't seem to mind as he had his trademark smile on his face.

"Sure, this way," he gestured while leading the boy out of the room, through the living room and into the bathroom, which was simply directly next to his bedroom. Ichigo opened the bathroom door and allowed the soaked teen to enter first. The bathroom was simple, a small shower in the corner, a toilet and a wash table were all that filled the room, with a small window above the showerhead.

"Well, it isn't much but feel free to use anything you see. Think you can manage?" Ichigo asked the other boy who didn't meet his eyes for a second.

"…Yes, thank you, Kurosaki." Ichigo smiled goofily as he walked backwards, taking the doorknob into his hands.

"Well, have fun," he said before closing the door, leaving Hitsugaya alone in the small room. Said teen merely sighed deeply as he first took Hyourinmaru from his back, placing his trusted companion carefully on the floor. He then took off his haori, hanging it on a small hook as the white clothe still dripped with cold droplets of rain. Finally taking off his other clothes, he shivered slightly as cool air hit his already cooled down body. It wasn't really a shiver from the cold, he was completely used to any ungodly temperature after the hours-long conversations with his zanpaktou in his own subconscious world. Rather, he felt a bit exposed, bathing in any other place but his own residence always made him feel faintly uncomfortable.

He swiftly stepped into the small cabin and switched on the water, quickly evading the spray and waited for the water to warm up. After a few seconds, the temperature increased and he stepped in the flow of water, allowing the warm sensation to relax his muscles and warm him up thoroughly. The warmth quickly washed away the cold droplets and replaced them with warm ones. He let out a deep, satisfied sigh as he allowed the spray to hit his face, clenching his eyes closed as he felt the warm water hit his face, flow down his thin neck and travel down his lithe chest and stomach, the droplets gaining speed on his lean legs before disappearing into the damp ground.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Ichigo was sitting at his desk again, though definitely not solving any math problems anymore. With his head leaned backwards, supported on the back by his folded hands while he had his legs stretched out under his desk and his eyes closed he listened to the sound of the shower, the warm water probably filling the room with steam while the cold rain calmed down outside. Taking a deep breath, he tried to relieve his head of the intense strain, trying to block out the math for just a little while. Honestly, it had been very long, if ever, that he had even tried to study this hard. Was it perhaps because he had some encouragement from someone else? But a certain Kurosaki Isshin, the teens father, had tried to 'encourage' him many, many times in the past. Not many people are left with either a bruise or a destroyed wall when their father encourages them, of course.<p>

Ichigo shuddered slightly, shaking off the thought and his eyes suddenly opened. He just realized there were no towels left in the bathroom, the one he'd given Toushiro being the last one left. And that one was probably already thoroughly cold and wet. He thought deeply for a second before he walked into the living room. He looked around until he located a basket with washed laundry he hadn't put away yet. Ruffling through the pile of clothes for a while he finally found a completely white towel. With a satisfied smile on his face, thinking the white color matched the boy's hair perfectly, he walked towards his bathroom, grabbing the doorknob mindlessly as he did every morning when he was still sleep induced.

Before he knew it, he'd already opened the door.

Toushiro hadn't locked it.

Within a second Ichigo realized what he was doing and mentally slapped himself at what he had thoughtlessly done. However, the bathroom door was already wide open by now, hot steam escaping and dispersing into the cool living room. Ichigo stammered helplessly as he recognized the smaller boy's form, the steam not concealing much. Ichigo desperately closed his eyes and held a hand in front of them to add to the effect. But it was too late by now.

"What the hell are you doing!" The usually low voice nearly screeched in surprise.

Ichigo shook his head wildly, holding the towel in front of himself as if it were a white flag indicating his surrender. Unfortunately, it wasn't before Ichigo had seen the naked, surprisingly well-defined torso, the lean and very slightly muscled arms as well as two cute small shoulders, the one on the right, being the boy's left shoulder, still bearing a thin scar. Going lower on the mental image now burned into his mind, there were two tiny pink nipples and even lower his gaze had also caught the sight of a small and daringly cute bellybutton. His eyes had almost travelled even lower but Ichigo had managed to stop himself just in time. He had the respect and decency not to look at things he wasn't supposed to see…

"I-I uh… T-T-T…Towel! I thought you could use a-another one but like every morning when I wake up, y-you know, who thinks about that, I opened the door before I knew it. I-I'm sorry!" And with that, he quickly dropped the towel on the floor and hastily turned around, wildly closing the door behind him, all the while keeping his hand in front of his eyes.

Hitsugaya was left panting slightly from the sudden shock and his cheeks had flared up even more, the warmth no longer the only cause of the red streak across the boy's features.

'_B-Bakayaro…'_

* * *

><p>Hitsugaya's shower had ended very shortly after that. The boy exited the bathroom silently, the towel wrapped around his waist <em>extra tightly<em>. Hitsugaya had made sure there was no chance of it falling off. He held his wet clothes in front of his chest as he approached his gigai before quickly slipping into it, thankful for the fact that the gigai, of course, still had the school uniform on. The wet shinigami clothes were discarded on the floor and Hitsugaya quickly knelt down to fold them neatly, all the while avoiding Ichigo's gaze. The young boy pulled out a plastic bag from his backpack and put the soaked clothes in it, placing the bag next to his backpack before standing up, hesitantly looking at Ichigo, who's cheeks were as red as his own.

An uncomfortable silence hung over the two as they both didn't know what to say, both still feeling the embarrassment wildly tingling in their stomachs.

Ichigo was eventually the one to cautiously speak up first, a nervous, slightly forced grin on his face.

"I uh… I solved another problem." Hitsugaya nodded. His face didn't do much to betray the boy's inner turmoil but it cost him significantly more effort than usual.

"Good…" He mumbled before picking up his two bags. "I'll go home. Thanks…for the shower," he averted his eyes as quick as possible, not wanting to look at the colorful haired boy any longer than necessary in fear of his nervousness showing. Ichigo in turn groaned slightly, knowing he'd blown it for today.

"R-Really? You can stay if you want." He knew it was in vain. It was probably better if the other left with the mood was as uncomfortable as it was.

"No. But thank you… I'll be leaving now," Hitsugaya answered slowly, his voice sounding a bit off, not like the usual firm voice he always commanded his division with. He already walked out of the bedroom and quickly made his way to the door, taking a few seconds to slip his shoes on. Ichigo leaned on the wall behind him, sighing inwardly.

"You know… You can really stay if you want. We'll order some food and you can sleep over..."

This snapped the boy back in reality.

"Absolutely not," his voice had finally turned back to the normal, demanding tone, the red streak finally gone from the pale boy's face. Not daring to turn around and face the taller teen, Hitsugaya put on his jacket and picked up his bags before walking into the hallway.

"Oh wait!" Ichigo's voice called. Hitsugaya turned around to see Ichigo approach him on his socks, holding a dark green umbrella.

"At least take on with you. You never know when it'll start pouring down," Ichigo said with a soft and gentle voice, a weak grin on his face as he noticed how the other boy avoided his gaze.

"Thanks," the mumbled answer revealed sincere gratitude, something Hitsugaya wasn't sure how to express otherwise. Holding the two bags in one hand, the umbrella in the other, Hitsugaya slowly started walking. After a few seconds the boy disappeared out of Ichigo's sight, down the stairs. Ichigo stood there in the door opening even after he heard the creaky front door of the building opening and closing again. He stared at the space in front of him for a while before sighing out loud. Turning around, he entered his apartment and closed the door behind him, the sudden silence feeling almost deafening to his ears, even if the previous hours hadn't been much different, technically speaking. He walked towards the television and turned it on, the sound of numerous laughing voices soon filling the apartment. Turning the volume slightly harder then necessary, he walked towards his small kitchen and decided to prepare some dinner for himself.

* * *

><p>-Later that night-<br>All of the rain-bearing clouds had disappeared by now as if they'd never been there, the dark, almost black night sky covering Karakura Town in its soothing nightfall. A few stars were visible decorating the heavens while the moon, only half lit, casted its bleak light over the many houses, not doing much to light up the many dark alleyways.

In one residence two shinigami captains of the legendary Gotei 13 slept, or one at least tried to. The youngest of the two laid completely awake in his bed, staring at the dark sky through his opened window. His eyes were slightly fogged with weariness, tired from the day, much like how mountains of paperwork often left him.

He involuntarily recalled the events of that day and his cheeks fired up fiercely at a certain memory. The little boy quickly pressed his face into his pillow as he tried to hide his embarrassment, mostly from himself. With a deep, muffled sigh he willed himself to calm down and after a minute, he finally freed himself. However, as soon as he looked at the sky again and remembered the way that stupid substitute shinigami had behaved himself, the blood rushed towards his face again, heating it up in a way that was unusual for the cold captain.

Unbeknownst to the small shinigami, in an apartment not too far away, that substitute shinigami was having the same problem.

Ichigo was looking at the endless sky through his opened window as well, also recalling the things that had happened that day. And, just like the prodigy boy had done, did he cover up his face as he remembered what he'd seen that day. His cheeks felt hot from all the blood that rushed there. Ichigo violently shook his head as he tried to shake the thought off but it wouldn't work. Pulling his pillow up and pressing his head between the bed and his pillow, he clenched his eyes. He saw that exact same mental image again and again as blood quickly rushed north, and much to his horror, some went south of his body. Ichigo groaned loudly as he tried to reign in the stir of his body.

'_T-This… What does this mean?'_

It hadn't been the first time Ichigo had seen a fellow male naked. It was certainly the first time it had such an impact though.

_´Am I… I never considered I could…'_

A sincerely serious frown appeared on the teen's forehead as he pondered. He felt strangely calm despite the many questions he wanted to ask himself.

'_So… Am I…?' _

* * *

><p>The white-haired boy rested in his bed without moving a muscle, the big white mess called his hair sprawled out on his pillow, the one pluck of hair ever present over the left side of his face. His eyes were half closed, sleep almost getting to him. With his slightly fogged eyes he continued watching outside, trying to take in the many stars and the moon that shone its weak and pale light.<p>

Many thoughts whirled around in the prodigy's head, preventing him from falling asleep completely. The thoughts ranged from personal matters, like how Hinamori Momo, his childhood friend and Rukongai-family was doing, to more formal matters, like how his division was coping without its captain and vice-captain, the latter's absence not that much of an impact difference, really. He eventually thought back to the moment where this crazy, so-called battle with one of their own kind began. The day of the betrayal of Aizen Sousuke, the fifth division's captain. That day was only the public betrayal, Hitsugaya could not even fathom when the gently smiling bastard had actually begun his sick and twisted plans. Perhaps even before Hitsugaya himself came to Soul Society.

To make matters worse, Aizen had dragged two other captains in his scheme. One had always been on Hitsugaya's list of people he'd never trust with his life while the other traitor came as quite the surprise to everyone. Once Hitsugaya had learned of Aizen's zanpaktou abilities, some things finally made sense in his mind but many questions surrounding the entire event remained.

A deep sigh escaped from the young captain, his eyes now fully closed to aid the sleep in capturing him. But his thoughts weren't done with him yet, seeing how there was now another person that continuously caught his attention lately and thus had gained a place in the boy's complex train of thoughts.

The tall, loud, hyperactive, childish, idiotic teen had somehow demanded a lot of his time ever since he was stationed in the real world with Kuchiki-taichou. What surprised him the most was that, while he had been _very_ annoyed with the other in the beginning, he now didn't really mind helping the teen study. He'd never admit it openly but an odd twisting in his stomach started to appear whenever that baka had managed to solve another relatively simple problem.

Hitsugaya turned on his side, eyes opening again to look at the nearly empty room he slept in. Decorating his sleeping quarters was something he'd never done. He owned a rather huge villa-like house in Seireitei like any other captain but he only rarely spend the night in his own room there. His office was the place where he more than often found himself till almost the next morning. The rare hours of sleep he caught were often caught laying on the couch there.

His mind involuntarily wandered back to the orange-topped teen and Hitsugaya felt _that_ again. It wasn't nausea but it didn't feel exactly healthy either. He noticed he didn't really dislike the feeling but anything foreign that he did not know the reason or purpose of was something he rather did not have, or simply avoided.

It did feel familiar, on some level. But where had he encountered these sensations before?

Hitsugaya shook his head slightly, willing the thoughts and feelings to the background of his mind. The only thing he wanted now was his well-deserved sleep. And so he pressed his head into his pillow again, trying to forget about everything for a little while. There was always tomorrow.

The soothing darkness of the night had finally gotten to the small prodigy after nearly two hours, his eyes closed and his breathing soft and regular. The boy looked like a peaceful angel with the moonlight on his delicate features, some small strands of hair covering his face. With a content mumble, the boy turned on his side, letting out a slightly deeper breath than normal, stirring slightly before giving into the slumber again that had finally claimed him. A small tug could be seen at the boy's mouth corners, his body finally able to relax and rest after the eventful day.

A foreign voice seemed to echo through the boy's head.

_Juubantai-taichi-han, ya sure ya should sleep like that? _

The closed eyes opened forcefully, his vision slightly blurred as he quickly sat up straight, his foggy mind trying to shake of the weariness while he desperately searched for the source of the voice.

_Easy, easy. Yer actin' like yer bein' attacked or somethin'. _

The previously peaceful features were immediately sharp and focused as a small and dainty hand groped around for his zanpaktou, finding the familiar handle soon enough next to his bed. The boy quickly got out of bed, unsheathing his katana, his eyes now alert and cold, his voice slightly trembling in something far from fear.

"Show your damn face," he growled lowly, almost inaudible. However, a sly laugh replied soon enough, confirming it had been heard.

_Now now, not so rude. Ya haven't seen me in such—_

"Shut up," Hitsugaya interrupted, his eyes flaring with hatred as he once again searched the area for the other's reiatsu. But only two reiatsu's were clearly noticeable. One being the almost perfectly reigned in one belonging to the captain sleeping next door, the other unmistakably the ever present reiatsu leaking from the substitute shinigamisleeping many buildings away.

"Again… Show your damn face, bastard," he mumbled slowly, sure the other should have heard him. He silently waited for an answer, but after a few minutes he realized there was none. He looked around, the teal orbs quickly scanning the room, again confirming that nothing was out of place. However, he still gripped his zanpaktou tightly, wanting to make sure there was not the smallest chance of being ambushed before dropping his guard even the slightest bit. But after standing completely still for five minutes in absolute silence, he sighed deeply as he sheathed Hyourinmaru, an uncomfortable feeling creeping up his spine as he placed his weapon and literal soul-mate on the floor next to his bed again. Remaining alert for another few minutes, he carefully slipped between the covers again, looking out of his window for some time, trying to find his previous peace again.

'_I'm going mad,' _he thought to himself.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he turned on his side and closed his eyes tightly as he tried to clear his mind. But it still took another half hour before he relaxed fully again and only ten minutes after that had sleep finally caught him once more, though not nearly as soft as earlier, the white-haired boy now drifting into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p>A pair of chocolate brown eyes slowly fluttered open, the sudden rays of sunlight coming through the window feeling as cruel torture. He took a few more moments to lay on his back, looking out of the window again to see that the dark night had been replaced with an orange-tainted morning sky, the upcoming sun still partially hidden behind some clouds. Despite the warm appearance the colors in the sky displayed, a chilly breeze entered the room, reminding all citizens that spring had yet to begin.<p>

A sudden beeping sound echoed through the room, the alarm clock disturbing the silence. Almost out of reflex Ichigo reached out his fist and slammed on the top of the annoying yet crucial object, his mind now violently shaken. With another sigh and a slight shiver he rolled out of bed and made his way to his bathroom. Grabbing a clean towel from the basket in the living room he opened the door and Ichigo noticed the scent of his shower-gel still lingered in the room from when his visitor had used it only several hours before.

He threw his pajamas into another basket before entering his shower cabin, turning the water to a lukewarm degree before entering the spray. With another shiver he quickly turned the water warmer, his eyes closed as he allowed his muscles to stretch slowly for the upcoming day.

He blindly groped around for his shower-gel and shampoo but couldn't find them in their usual spot. He found them neatly stacked next to each other in a way he'd certainly not arranged himself. A smile appeared on his face as he grabbed one of the bottles and poured a generous amount of shower-gel in his hands.

Ten minutes later the carrot-topped teen exited the shower, steam escaping through the small window and the now opened door, the floor and mirror in the bathroom still damp from the humid warmth.

With his towel wrapped loosely around his waist he entered his bedroom again, opened his closet and mindlessly took out some clothes, throwing them on his bed. He took a quick glance in the tall mirror that hung on the wall. For a split second he flexed his muscles slightly and a silly smile adorned his face before he turned around, shaking his head slightly.

He quickly got dressed, running his hands through his hair a few times to make sure it wasn't in the slightest neat-looking before he entered his living room. He walked past the dining table and picked up one of the apples he always kept there, taking a bite out of it while looking around for his schoolbag. Finding it discarded in the corner of his bedroom, he picked it up and opened it, taking out his agenda. He visibly cringed as he saw the fat red circle he'd drawn on one of the pages. He sighed deeply before slipping his agenda back in his bag and closed it.

'_Oh man… Just two days left…'_

With a sigh, he walked back into his living room and prepared his lunch for the day. After he finished putting his neatly made lunch in his bag he nearly jumped as his eyes fell on his clock.

"Damn it!" He yelled as he tightly clamped the unfinished apple between his teeth to free his hands, clumsily putting on his jacket before picking up his school bag. He swung the door open, shaking off the feeling he was forgetting something but quickly stepped outside, nearly forgetting to lock the door before finally taking off, nearly jumping down the stairs.

Once outside, he shivered from the cold breeze as he took his apple out of his mouth, taking a large bite instead.

'_It'll be alright. Two days are enough as long as Toushiro's willing to continue helping me,' _he thought with a content smile on his face before it slowly faded.

'_T-Toushiro…'_

For a second he tried to analyze the feeling he suddenly experienced.

'_I guess… It's not like with Inoue or Rukia… They're girls though…'_

He mindlessly started jogging the route he took to school every morning.

'_I… l-like him?'_

His stomach turned into a knot but at the same time a vague sense of relief came with it.

'_I guess so.'_

**Author's Notes:**

The small green pills contain mod-souls, artificially created souls, who stay in the physical body or gigai left behind when a shinigami needs to be in his spiritual state.

'Okairi' translates to "Welcome home" and in my personal opinion, it has this warm, homely feeling to it.

**In the next chapter of Thawing Walls:**

In the many years he'd already been a captain of the Gotei 13, years filled with numerous attempts of his vice-captain, there hadn't been much that could make the boy laugh or even lift up his mood. Yet, that one expression from the obnoxious teen was somehow enough to tug the corners of his mouth upwards and make him momentarily forget his heavy responsibilities, even if it were just for one second.

And…

"Kurosaki, will you… Can he at least hug me one last time?"


	6. Chapter 6

Please be honest. Is in your opinion the story moving to slow? I'm curious to hear what you think!

**Thawing Walls – Chapter 6**

"Alright everyone, listen up please. I'm sure you're all well aware of the mock exams coming up. Now let me remind you that that is only two days away and that everyone who fails should strongly consider taking extra lessons during vacation, that is, if your ambitions are left intact. Also, for God's sake and your own, be on time! Alright, that was all, you are dismissed. Next class starts in thirty minutes, English. Be prepared!"

But the woman's voice was no longer heard. The sound of over twenty chairs being pushed backwards almost simultaneously combined with the various chatting that started immediately completely drowned her warning. Many students could be heard sighing, complaining to their friends about the upcoming exams and many creative curses were fired at the possible extra education.

Kurosaki Ichigo was no exception, knowing all too well he'd already worked so hard yet still he was afraid it would all be for nothing once he blacked out on the exam. He muttered under his breath as he put his math books in his bag before standing up and looked around the classroom to find his friends.

The only exceptions that could be called 'calm' in the classroom were Ishida Uryuu, who had yet to fail any exam, Hitsugaya Toushiro, who merely scoffed at the other student's so-called 'exaggerated' reactions and Sado Yasutora, who never really said anything at all.

Hitsugaya silently raised from his chair and picked up his bag, ignoring every person in the room and heading straight for the door as always.

"Oi, Toushiro!" Of course. He couldn't get away unnoticed. With his usual deepened frown yet surprisingly tolerant demeanor, he turned around to face Ichigo standing a few steps away, though he was quickly approaching.

"Wanna have lunch together?" Ichigo asked, a gentle yet ever so goofy grin on his face.

Ichigo wasn't quite sure if his realizations from earlier this morning were really true. He'd never been particularly interested in guys, yet being with this one made him excessively cheerful.

Hitsugaya merely shrugged and turned around, but not before he'd clearly send a 'You're so hopeless' look at the colorfully-haired teen. Yet Ichigo merely smiled victoriously as he followed the smaller one, knowing he was heading for the rooftop as always on days like this.

'_Well, at least he's dropped the constant name correction,' _Ichigo thought with a satisfied expression.

"Just," Hitsugaya spoke up as he continued walking, not turning to look at Ichigo at all, "how hard can it be to call me Hitsugaya-taichou already, bakayaro."

'_To good to be true,' _Ichigo sighed dramatically as he shook his head. The boy just never seemed to change. Then again, here he was, asking the boy to lunch with him without a downright 'No!' thrown into his face. Improvement was in sight.

Ichigo was glad they could talk normally again, the embarrassing moment from the day before was still _very_ clear in both their minds and perhaps a bit _to_ vivid in Ichigo's.

It took them only three minutes to reach the rooftop and they found Inoue with her friend Tatsuki already there. Ichigo happily greeted both of them and joined them by sitting down while Hitsugaya kept on walking till he reached the fence, finally settling down there. Ichigo watched the boy from the corner of his eyes and decided not to bother him for now, even though he wished that 'having lunch together' had been more than just being in the same area for half an hour. However, they'd been spending quite the amount of time together lately already. The past four days they'd been studying together for at least 4 hours a day after all.

And his mind got distracted when Ishida and Sado joined them and the orange-topped boy soon found himself mingled in a conversation about practically anything one could think off, ranging from the daily homework to the oddest food combinations one could possibly imagine, let alone dare to eat.

Meanwhile, Hitsugaya sat beside the fence as he quietly watched over the city, his mind wandering peacefully. He noticed how the temperature was oddly high after the cold night and morning. But he didn't mind, seeing how they didn't get to spend their lunch breaks on the rooftop very often. It was basically the only thing he liked about having to attend the troublesome school. From higher up the polluted city, bustling with many people and cars, seemed much more peaceful and if the temperature was nice on a day like this then the people would often take out their children to go shopping. It was strange and something he'd not admit easily but he liked watching the people from here, the children happily bouncing around their mothers as they moved from one shopping window to the other. Seeing such guiltless and simple happiness was oddly soothing for the prodigy's troubled mind. He felt innocent envy for them.

After watching for about five more minutes he closed his eyes as his mind felt tired and heavy from the few hours of sleep he'd gotten last night. The wind blew in his ears, partially blocking out the noise from the overly loud conversation taking place not too far away as his mind wandered back to the previous day for the umpteenth time since that moment. He quickly tried to divert his thoughts as he felt his cheeks flare up again but he couldn't help but constantly remember the idiotic, stunned and embarrassed face Ichigo had when he barged into the bathroom and noticed what he'd done. What disturbed Hitsugaya most was that if the event hadn't been so damn humiliating for himself then he would have been able to laugh at that baka's face. That thought made Hitsugaya's stomach tingle uncomfortably. In the many years he'd already been a captain of the Gotei 13, years filled with numerous attempts of his vice-captain, there hadn't been much that could make the boy laugh or even lift up his mood. Yet, that one expression from the obnoxious teen was somehow enough to tug the corners of his mouth upwards and make him momentarily forget his heavy responsibilities, even if it were just for one second.

That was what troubled Hitsugaya Toushiro the most.

No one was able to accomplish that, not even his Rukongai family member Hinamori Momo. Matsumoto had tried but every single time it had made him only more annoyed and he somehow ended up with an added amount of paperwork nine out of ten times as well.

His breath regulated as he pulled the collar of his black school uniform tighter and he crossed his arms in front of his chest to keep himself warmer, his knees bent and closing his arms between them and his torso. For a second he decided to listen to whatever those people next to him were talking about but after hearing a few comments on having spaghetti for breakfast he decided he knew enough and allowed himself to get lost in his own thoughts again.

He stayed like that for some time and sometime later the loud school bell rang clearly through the sky, startling him out of his thinking. Reluctantly he stood up, feeling himself cool down slightly as the warmth from his own limbs was no longer forming a small cocoon around him. But he also felt relief as the familiar tingling of coldness crept through his body, clearing the thin fog that seemed to linger in his mind and sharpen his senses. Taking a few seconds to dust off his uniform, he picked up his bag and walked to the door.

He stopped for a short moment when he saw Kurosaki waiting for him at the door, an inviting smile on his face as he motioned for him to hurry up. With a practiced eased scowl he approached the other and quickly walked past him, down the stairs. He heard the door close behind him and a few hasty steps before the tall teen was walking next him.

"You okay? You didn't eat anything, did you?" Ichigo asked, a faint hint of concern noticeable in his voice.

"I'll be fine. I never eat much anyway," he answered, taking a left turn as they walked through the hallway, their destination one floor lower.

Suddenly Ichigo reached his hand out and handed him something, a little plastic package. Hitsugaya looked at it while he kept on walking.

"What is it?"

"A sandwich I made. I'm not gonna eat it, so you can have it. Eat it, will you? Please?" Ichigo pleaded, a firm yet gentle urging in his voice. Hitsugaya didn't say anything for a moment, thinking about what to do next. Eventually he accepted it and unwrapped the sandwich.

"Fine," he mumbled as he took a bite. _'Was that… to harsh?'_

"Thank you, Kurosaki."

Ichigo smiled widely as he had a 'mission accomplished' look on his face, feeling very satisfied.

It took one more minute to reach the classroom and Hitsugaya quickly stuffed the last bite in his mouth before dropping the plastic in a trashcan. He then walked to his seat, eyeing Ichigo from the corner of his eyes as he walked past the teen's table towards his own. Sitting down, he pulled out his English books and then propped his elbows on the desk, his head resting on his small hands as he prepared himself for another few hours of boredom.

Soon enough the female teacher entered the room and immediately started scribbling some words on the blackboard.

"Alright people, nouns and verbs. Who can name some examples for me?" She asked, a bit of forced enthusiasm visible. Every student, save for a very select few, groaned in frustration at the question.

Hitsugaya merely suppressed his yawn.

* * *

><p>Many pencils could be heard scribbling on paper, the only other sound being the now monotone voice of the teacher, who was reading a short passage of Shakespeare's Hamlet with a horrible accent. Every once in a while she stopped and mentioned a few things which were supposedly very important. Hitsugaya looked around the classroom with dulled eyes, fighting against the drowsiness. His sight eventually settled on the orange-haired teen who was for once busy taking notes as well.<p>

'_Well, he's trying,' _Hitsugaya thought, glad the study-resenting teen was putting some effort in school, which was 'oh so important' for humans.

The teacher turned around for a few seconds to write something on the board and Hitsugaya suddenly found some paper thrown on his desk. Looking up he saw Kurosaki quickly turning around, his head bowed over his book again. With a raised eyebrow Hitsugaya flattened out the paper, reading the hastily written letter.

Toushiro, -Hitsugaya scowled slightly-  
>We didn't have a chance to really talk yet today<br>and there is something I've been wanting to tell  
>you since yesterday. I'm so so sorry about barging<br>in like that and I'm glad you didn't freeze my butt  
>off which I had actually expected you to do.<br>Anyway I wanted to say sorry and I also wanted  
>to tell you I'm really looking forward to studying<br>together again this afternoon no matter how horrible  
>the studying part sounds. Thanks for helping me out<br>like this with your help I'm sure I can make it.  
>Really Toushiro thanks!<br>Ichigo

Hitsugaya shook his head in disbelief.

'_This is what he was writing? That idiot is so…'_

Grabbing his pencil he quickly but definitely in neat handwriting wrote a single sentence at the bottom of the page. Waiting a minute for the teacher to turn to the board again he swiftly and precisely threw the paper back on Ichigo's desk, watching as the teen read his message. Ichigo chuckled as he shook his head before stuffing the paper in his pocket. With apparently renewed motivation, the teen bowed over his book once again, this time determined to actually do his best and work hard.

And slowly, agonizingly slowly, the time went by until the redemptive sound of the school bell rang through the entire building. Within two seconds all books were closed and chairs were being pushed back, many students immediately starting to talk among each other. Ichigo was one of the few who remained in his seat a little while longer, stretching out his arms and rubbing his eyes before standing up and shaking his legs to get rid of the soreness of sitting still for so long. He watched Hitsugaya already leave the classroom, as always, and he was tempted to go after him right away but he knew the little genius would be waiting for him at the front gate, most likely with an impatient scowl on his face.

With a grin Ichigo packed his bag, making sure he collected all of his books before taking out the paper that had previously communicated between himself and the little boy. Shaking his head, he rubbed the nape of his neck as he again read the one sentence the other had written. He couldn't help but smile.

Start paying some damn attention, bakayaro.

* * *

><p>Ichigo slowly walked out of the school building, his bag casually hanging over his right shoulder. He looked around for a few seconds but soon noticed the small boy standing at the gate, that white tuff of hair pretty hard to miss amidst all the black uniforms. As always a smile formed on the orange-haired boy as he approached him, waving at the other as soon as they made eye contact.<p>

Hitsugaya scoffed in acknowledgement, nodding slightly before turning around and he started walking in the direction of Ichigo's apartment. Ichigo contemplated on whether he should start a conversation or just keeping quiet. But he soon decided that keeping quiet wasn't really his thing, so he tried to subtly bring up some conversation.

"English literature was pretty tough, wasn't it?"

"Not if you actually pay attention."

Ichigo chuckled as the overly serious boy kept looking straightforward, his eyes fixed, the emerald orbs not once moving in his direction.

"But still," Ichigo exaggerated his voice with a slight whine, "it was sooo boring. I couldn't stay awake at all."

"So you start writing apology letters." The sentence wasn't a question at all, just a statement.

"Hehe, well… I felt like I had to do something about yesterday…"_'Well, at least he read it. I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd immediately written his little warning before throwing the paper back,' _Ichigo thought with a hint of relief.

"Though, Toushiro, I've gotta admit your face was priceless," he teased, trying to get some response or expression out of the boy. And it worked, as the cheeks immediately tinted red again.

"Che, you're one to speak," Hitsugaya mumbled, his composed posture slowly faltering.

Ichigo laughed nervously and was about to make another remark but a suffocating pressure suddenly enveloped both of them. Ichigo felt his knees buckle in surprise of the pressing reiatsu that had suddenly appeared. Hitsugaya's eyes were wide open as he looked around, trying to find the source of the power though it felt like it was everywhere as the energy filled the entire town. Ichigo desperately tried to steady himself and once he managed to get a grip, he looked at Hitsugaya, who had less trouble standing up. The captain was still looking around for the enemies.

"These aren't…Menos Grande," the prodigy mumbled. "These are Espada."

Ichigo's eyes widened in disbelief as he tried to confirm if he'd heard him correctly. But before he could do anything a white blur shot past him and Hitsugaya was suddenly gone. Ichigo turned around wildly, his eyes searching everywhere for the teen.

His eyes widened impossibly more as two figures, floating in mid-sky and clad completely in white, appeared in front of him. They were obviously the ones behind this. But what horrified him most was that the bulky one of the two was now holding Hitsugaya tightly, the boy's thin wrists, above his head, were completely enclosed in the giant's huge right hand. A deep grimace, one unlike any other, adorned the boy's face as he hadn't had the time to get out of his gigai yet. That made it impossible for him to break free as his physical powers were still limited to that of a mere human kid at that moment. Nonetheless, he tried to wriggle out of the tight grip but his hands were strongly held above his head. It was completely impossible for him to reach his mod-soul pills to get out of his bodily prison. Hitsugaya soon gave up struggling, allowing himself to hang defenselessly in the Espada's clutches as he tried to think of a way to get out.

Meanwhile, Ichigo stood on the ground, attempting to do the same thing but with no luck. He groped around his body to find his shinigami badge, but to his own horror he realized he hadn't taken it with him. So _that_ was what he'd forgotten this morning. Now of all days.

"Yami, show me the shinigami," the other Espada commanded, his speech formal and slow-paced. The addressed Espada, apparently named Yami, chuckled gruffly as he swung his arm, causing Hitsugaya to swing dangerously in the air, increasing the strain on his tiny wrists with every second.

"Hehe, Ulquoirra, it's quite the catch we've gotten ourselves here. Isn't he…" Thick eyebrows knitted together as the man thought deeply.

"Hitsugaya Toushiro, captain of the tenth division of the Gotei 13, currently stationed in Karakura Town to help suppress the increased Menos Grande activity," the other Espada finished, his face completely expressionless no matter what he said. Green eyes met emerald ones, both as emotionless and void of expression whatsoever.

"LET HIM GO!" Ichigo roared from the ground, not really sure what else he could do. The lithe Espada turned away from Hitsugaya slowly, the deadpan eyes now gazing at the enraged but still powerless teen.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, substitute shinigami, living in Karakura Town, following no specific orders issued by Soul Society," Ulquoirra said, barely loud enough for Ichigo to hear.

"So he's the one of Aizen-sama's plans," he then mumbled only to himself. "Yami, you took the wrong one." The other Espada merely shrugged with a smug grin on his face.

"Kurosaki Ichigo," the one called Ulquoirra said again, this time loud enough for Ichigo to hear clearly, "are you willing to rescue the shinigami captain we're now holding captive?" The Espada named Yami drew his sword with his other hand and held the blade dangerously close to the Hitsugaya's thin neck, the weak sunlight casting a faint reflection on the pale skin through the blade.

Ichigo nodded hesitantly, not once questioning if he wanted to safe the boy but wondering how in the world he was going to do it.

"Then you'll take his place and come with us to Hueco Mundo." The snow-white face adorned with green, piercing eyes carefully observed their target's desperate contemplations, the frustrated teen obviously trying to think of some other way. Ulquoirra nodded at Yami and they slowly descended until they were standing on the ground, only ten feet away from where Ichigo stood.

"Approach," the tone showed it was no question. Ichigo clenched his fists. The only thing he was sure of right now was if he didn't do what they asked, Hitsugaya would get critically hurt. "Kurosaki…" Hitsugaya murmured.

Frowning deeply, Ichigo slowly took one small step, hoping to think of something before he reached them. His eyes nearly rolled in his head as desperation slowly got the best of him, his forehead shining lightly with sweat. It wasn't often Kurosaki Ichigo did not know what to do, usually resolving everything with charging head first at his problems. But that would be suicidal right now, if not for himself then surely for his small friend.

Ichigo's gaze constantly shifted between his enemies and the ground, not sure where to look as he tried to think of something, anything. But his eyes suddenly stopped rolling as they made contact with emerald ones. Ichigo watched in awe as Hitsugaya's form was completely relaxed. He was not resisting, yet not giving up either, that much was visible in his eyes. Hitsugaya nearly stared at Ichigo, their eye-contact seemingly making time go much, much slower. Ichigo actually felt as if he was walking in slow-motion as he continued to look at the captive boy, who was holding himself miraculously despite the grave situation he was in.

"Kurosaki, will you… Can he at least hug me one last time?" Hitsugaya asked with a hint of very unusual desperation, only noticeable in his voice while his face remained void of any.

Ichigo was just 4 steps away from him now but they never broke their locked gazes.

"How troublesome you shinigami are…" Ulquoirra answered, but he was followed by Yami.

"Hah! Let them entertain us with some dramatic goodbyes!" Yami laughed loudly as he swayed Hitsugaya's body wildly a few times more.

Hitsugaya took a deep breath when he recovered from all the shaking, his eyes finally moving again after staring intensely at Ichigo. He seemed to look at his own body, though Ichigo couldn't quite figure out where. The emerald orbs switched to Ichigo again before slowly moving down again. Ichigo frowned deeply as he tried to understand what the other was doing and he could see the captain's frown get deeper as well. Ichigo tried to follow Hitsugaya's eyes, travelling halfway down the small body before they moved up again to lock with each other, a meaningful glare hidden in the shimmering orbs.

Only two steps remained and Hitsugaya sighed in defeat, giving up on messaging the clueless teen.

However, when Ichigo had taken one more step, only one left to stand face to face with his enemies, a small smirk, only noticeable when you looked extremely close, appeared on the brash teen's face as his eyes gleamed with a mischievous shimmer. Slowly, he took the last step until he was almost pressed against Hitsugaya.

Ichigo looked down as Hitsugaya looked up and a tug at the corner of the prodigy's mouth could also be seen.

Ichigo knelt down and encircled his arms around the boys thin waist. What suddenly happened next came as a surprise to the Espadas who were certain of their success.

Ichigo's arms enclosed around the boy and, long as they were in comparison to Hitsugaya's body, enabled him to suddenly and swiftly extend his left hand in Hitsugaya's left pocket. Digging his hand in, he enclosed it around two small marbles. Suddenly breaking the embrace, his hand then shot up and tossed one of the small candy-like mod-soul pills in Hitsugaya's already opened mouth. Within the next second two sounds resembling electric thrusts could be heard as both shinigami left their physical bodies and appeared in their traditional outfits.

"What the—" Yami grumbled as felt the captive body in his hand twitch, the small captain now standing in front of him. He couldn't even finish his curse as a black wave of concentrated energy slashed right through his arm.

"Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo had roared, the arm holding Hitsugaya's gigai now limply falling on the ground. Yami screamed in pain as he let his zanpaktou fall on the ground, now clutching his heavily bleeding arm and jumped back to create some more distance between them. Hitsugaya let out a high-pitched yell as he jumped up and subsequently slashed down through Ulquoirra's form but the slim Espada had already perfectly evaded the attack, taking his position next to a knelt down Yami while his hands never left his pockets.

"Oi, Toushiro! You okay?" Ichigo asked the boy standing next to him, the concern not hidden in his voice.

"Yes," he mumbled before clutching his trusted weapon with two hands. "Thanks to you," he added. Fiercely glaring at his opponents, the boy took a deep breath before concentrating all of his energy.

"Ban-kai!" He yelled as his reiatsu spiked immensely, the powerful force soon materializing in the form of icy wings, the frost quickly covering the complete back of the small captain.

"Dai Guren Hyourinmaru," he growled dangerously.

Hitsugaya wasted no more time as he took off, his frosted wings flapping slowly but powerfully as he quickly closed the distance between himself and his previous captor.

"H-Hey, Toushiro! Watch out, we're still in the middle of the city," Ichigo yelled after him, though he knew the boy couldn't hear him.

"Damn it," he muttered under his breath. However, he didn't waste any more time as he gripped his arm holding Zangetsu and forcefully pushed the handle's end unto his chest.

"Ban-kai! Tensa Zangetsu."

And with that, he quickly jumped after his captain-friend, determined to help him and kill those bastards before they even knew what was going on.

Ichigo quickly closed in on the three fighting figures, better said two since the Espada named Ulquoirra didn't seem at all interested in dirtying his hands. He was only observing how Yami got beaten up by Hitsugaya's powerful bankai. However, he turned around just in time to face the incoming force in the form of Ichigo, stopping a violent slash with his bare hand. Still, Ichigo just laughed it off as he grinded his sleek black zanpaktou against the completely white hand.

"At least you're using your hands now," he said with a smirk. Even Ichigo couldn't help but notice that throughout the entire event that had taken place, the expressionless figure had constantly kept his hands hidden in his pockets.

However, Ulquoirra seemed not in the least bit fazed by the forced counter, his face devoid of any emotion.

"Surrender silently, Kurosaki Ichigo. Aizen-sama has requested your vexing presence."

"As if I care about that," Ichigo groaned as he pushed his katana in the other's hand once more before jumping back, his feet sliding over an invisible platform in the air.

"Instead," he mumbled as he gripped Zangetsu tighter, "You'll pay for what you tried on Toushiro!" He was yelling when he finished his sentence, charging in again. But before he could attack his target, countless pink shimmers appeared in the sky, the weak sunlight reflected by every of thousands of petals, causing chocolate-brown eyes to widen in surprise. The petals soon grouped together to surround Ulquoirra and then violently crashed into him. However, without lifting his hands again, the slender figure evaded every single attack with ease.

"…Senbonsakura," a soft, firm voice spoke out of nowhere, the captain's reiatsu only from that moment on noticeable.

The stoic man stood behind Ulquoirra, now attempting to attack the Espada a second time. However, it was in vain as the numerous attacks were again evaded.

"Hey! Byakuya! Took you long enough, you arrogant…" Ichigo yelled, waving excitedly. But the man seemed to completely ignore him as he raised himself once more, determined to take down the agile enemy.

"Oi, Ichigo! You idiot!" A loud voice shouted from behind. Ichigo turned around, confident that Ulquoirra was busy with Byakuya, to see Renji walking up to him followed by Matsumoto. Renji was already wearing his fur coat and the large snake-skeleton was rolled around him as always.

"R-Renji! And Rangiku-san!" Ichigo happily cheered, glad to see some more responsive shinigami.

"Ichigo, you really are an idiot, aren't you," Renji said as he shook his head.

"The entire city was suddenly crawling with Menos Grande. Didn't you notice?" Matsumoto asked. Ichigo shook his head with a dumbstruck expression before getting serious again.

"T-Then, why are you here? Shouldn't you be taking out those Menoses?" Renji shook his head again in disbelief at the teen's slow mind.

"We already took care of them, idiot. That's why we couldn't get here any sooner," he muttered.

It took a second for Ichigo to process all the new information but eventually his carefree smile returned.

"Well, it's okay then! We handled it here anyway!" A thumbs-up was added for supposed assurance.

"Are you sure you're okay, Ichigo? And taichou? Is taichou alright?" Matsumoto asked, the instinctive concern for her captain apparent in her voice and expression. However, Ichigo nodded with a grin on his face, reassuring the strawberry-blonde that everything was okay.

"Toushiro's fine. He should be beating up one of the Espada somewhere," he said as he looked around, trying to actually find the little prodigy. The huge mountains of ice weren't that hard to miss and Ichigo quickly found Toushiro amidst them. Some of the ice was tainted with a red liquid but Ichigo noticed, to his relief, that it was not his friend who was wounded but rather the bulky giant who had now lost his other arm. His previously stainless white clothing was now drenched in his streaming blood.

Ichigo's gaze then switched over to the other battle going on, Ulquoirra still being surrounded by a pink sea of shimmers while Byakuya's face remained as impassive as always, which made him realize that the stoic captain and deadpan Espada were awfully alike in expression. He had to chuckle at the thought.

"Hehe, well, I guess I'll go help out Byakuya," he said with a grin, clenching his zanpaktou's handle. He was about to speed off but Renji's voice from behind halted him, the redhead's voice sounding oddly nervous.

"A-Ah, Ichigo… You might want to leave Kuchiki-taichou alone right now… H-He doesn't really…appreciate it when other people interrupt his fights." An unusual expression was worn on the tattooed face, the stammering was very much unlike the loud shinigami vice-captain.

Ichigo pouted when he acknowledged what Renji said, knowing it was most likely true and that the law-abiding captain wouldn't mind taking on the Espada himself, perhaps 'accidently' attacking the orange-topped shinigami if he dared to interfere.

"Well then… I'll go help Toushiro instead," Ichigo said as he nodded to himself. But before he could move he was again interrupted, this time by a female voice.

"Umm… Ichigo… I don't think taichou will be any happier than Kuchiki-taichou if you go to him now…" Matsumoto had a slightly anxious look on her face, knowing her captain didn't like being interfered as well. "Besides, taichou is winning anyway. I'm sure he can do without you at the moment," the busty woman added, hoping it would convince the fight-willing teen.

Ichigo thought deeply before actually imagining the little ice dragon's wrath after the fight was over and he shuddered slightly. After a few more moments of deep thinking he planted his zanpaktou in the ground and sat down with an obvious and exaggerated pout on his face.

"FINE! I'll just be sitting here then, seeing how no one seems to need my help anyway! But don't come running to me if your arms get ripped off or something!"

He defiantly crossed his arms and turned his face away, his chin up and lips curved down as he closed his eyes.

No matter who the bystander would be, the display would be labeled as 'childish'.

* * *

><p>The ominous sound of countless pink petals being scattered around had filled the sky for fifteen minutes by now and a single one had yet to hit its target. Still, the wielder's face remained as unchanging as ever, just like the intended target. Said enemy stood still for a split moment to take a look at the other battle his fellow Espada was fighting but he had to quickly move out of the way as another cloud of pink came in his direction.<p>

Said other battle was going considerably better for the shinigami team, the arrogant and bulky Espada was by now reduced to a pathetic bloody pulp. The previously battle-eager giant was breathing heavily as he barely managed to stand up.

Ichigo had reluctantly opened his eyes to check how everything was going and a mixed feeling whirled around in his stomach as he witnessed the obvious difference in damage between the two battles. Hitsugaya was most definitely winning but the same couldn't be said about the other captain. Sure, Byakuya wasn't _losing_ but the composed noble was not used to fighting an opponent who could evade his lethal attacks with that ease, the only precedence being Ichigo himself.

Ichigo finally decided to help out Byakuya despite the other's pride and was about to stand up when a new devastating pressure pushed him back into the ground.

"What the… hell?" He muttered as he tried to find the source of the pressure. It didn't seem to come from the Espadas that Byakuya and Toushiro were fighting. His eyes were drawn to a disturbance in the sky as it literally seemed to rip apart and a black sky and perfectly white desert that was devoid of any life could be seen through the tear. The attention of everyone, shinigami _and_ Espada, were diverted to the occurrence that suddenly took place. Even the Espadas seemed like they hadn't expected this.

Through the tear a figure stepped forward, clad identically to the other Espada and with a posture not that different from the one called Yami.

"R-Reinforcements?" Ichigo mumbled, desperately hoping he'd be proven wrong despite all the evidence that pointed towards the truth.

Ulquoirra turned to face his comrade that had just appeared.

"Auraldo*… Why are you here?" He asked with a hint of irritation noticeable in his voice, the first sign of any feeling the man had. The addressed one called Auraldo looked around, observing the battlefield. It seemed like he ignored the question but eventually he connected his gaze with Ulquoirra's.

"Ulquoirra," his voice was slightly unsteady but deep and seemed to make the air vibrate, creating a tingling sensation on Ichigo's skin. It remained silent for a while as everyone waited until he spoke again.

"Yami's performances have disappointed Aizen-sama. I will finish the affairs he started. Aizen-sama's orders."

Ulquoirra stared at Auraldo for a second before nodding almost unnoticeably. His green eyes, devoid of life and with complete disinterest, glared at his previous partner who had been losing horribly. The thin Espada evaded a sudden pink cloud that Byakuya had created to take advantage of the situation.

"Alright then," Ulquoirra mumbled to himself.

"O-Oi! Ulquoirra! What's he talking 'bout?" Yami grumbled while he tried to stand up. But his thick legs couldn't carry his heavy body anymore. Streams of blood continuously gushed out of his shoulders as sweat dripped from his face. Ulquoirra looked at him for a second, his expression unchanging.

"Aizen-sama no longer needs you," he said quietly, though he knew Yami had heard him. Ulquoirra removed his left hand from his pocket and reached out a single finger. A blood-red ball formed at the end. The giant's eyes widened in horror as he realized what his so-called partner was about to do. Anger soon replaced his fear.

"Y-YOU BASTAR—" but he couldn't finish his scream as the highly concentrated Cero hit him in the face, burning his upper body away with a sizzling sound.

Hitsugaya's eyes widened in surprise before he frowned deeply at the display of murder between the two Espadas. His previous opponent had vanished into thin air, burned ashes the only proof left of the giant's existence. It didn't really matter to him seeing how he was about to finish of the Espada himself but still, he hadn't thought that their opponents were this merciless even among their own ranks.

But the prodigy snapped out of his thoughts as he realized what this meant for the current situation. He had a new opponent, presumably stronger than his previous one. The colossal Espada Auraldo approached him slowly now, the small eyes in his large, round and bald head focused on Hitsugaya.

"Hitsugaya-taichou. You need only know my first name, Auraldo. Forgive my discourtesy but seeing how you shall die within the next ten minutes, telling any more than that holds no meaning."

Hitsugaya seemed unaffected by the announcement of his supposed death. Gripping Hyourinmaru tightly, he spread his icy wings wide, creating harsh and cold winds around himself.

"We'll see."

**Author's Notes:**

Auraldo is an original Espada I created, so no, you do not know him already. Forgive me for making up characters. His size is comparable to Yami and his appearance reflects that of Zommari Rureax, the 7th Espada.

**In the next chapter of Thawing Walls:**  
>"Keep him busy for at least five minutes," Hitsugaya whispered. Auraldo raised an eyebrow from a distance.<p>

"I'll try," Ichigo groaned before gripping Zangetsu tightly, speeding off towards the Espada. Meanwhile, Hitsugaya took a deep breath as he held Hyourinmaru's handle with both hands.

'_Ready for this?'_ He murmured, addressing the mighty dragon he shared his soul with. It let out a soft growl in acknowledgement. Hitsugaya lowered himself and moved out of the Espada's sight.

And…

"Oh! Rangiku-san, you and Renji should come over on next week's Friday evening! I'm holding a party at my place in celebration of getting a good grade, which I'll surely get with Toushiro's help—"

"You'll have to do it alone and it's Hitsu—"

"And you two should definitely come over! It'll be fun!"

"Oho! That would be so great! And don't worry, I'll bring all the drinks we possibly need!"

Meanwhile, forgotten and ignored, a white-haired boy sighed deeply as he didn't even want to imagine the horror of that so-called party, now that the 'I-drink-liquor-as-water' beast had been released in his vice-captain…


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry for the long wait! Here's an extra-long chapter for you!

**Thawing Walls – Chapter 7  
><strong>

"Hitsugaya-taichou. You need only know my first name, Auraldo. Forgive my discourtesy but seeing how you shall die within the next ten minutes, telling any more than that holds no meaning."

Hitsugaya seemed unaffected by the announcement of his supposed death. Gripping Hyourinmaru, he spread his icy wings wide, creating harsh and cold winds around himself.

"We'll see."

His eyes moved towards his left because of an incoming black blur.

"Toushiro, let me help," Ichigo mumbled, his eyes full of battle-readiness. Hitsugaya's silence was approval enough.

"It seems like you have your own reinforcements. Wise. But futile nonetheless," Auraldo stated as he drew his sword. "Aizen-sama wishes this to end quickly. Please do not hold back."

Toushiro and Ichigo's eyes widened at the following words.

"Resurreccion. Scream…"

An ear deafening explosive sound came from the Espada, shaking the very ground and shattering many windows of the houses below them. This caused sudden panic to the citizens on the ground who could not see the actual battle while the effects on their environment were as real as they could be.

"What the…" Ichigo muttered.

"Stay on your guard, Kurosaki."

"R-Right."

The Espada had grown quite larger though he had lost his hands, his arms now ending in blunt, round stumps with a flat side where his palms used to be. What had grown the most, proportionally, was his head. His bald head glimmered in the weakly shining sun. His lips were stitched together, effectively shutting his mouth and his previously small, marble sized eyes had become completely black and grown in size several times. His ears had disappeared, leaving the sides of his head perfectly flat.

From a distance, Renji and Matsumoto recovered from the earsplitting transformation that had taken place. After regaining their balance prepared for battle.  
>"I'll help them out!" Renji growled and started to charge towards Ichigo and Hitsugaya.<p>

"Watch out, Renji!" Matsumoto cried from behind, unleashing Haineko just in time to stop an Adjuchas who'd almost rammed into the redhead's side.

"Woah!" Renji stammered in surprise, halting his movements. "Where the hell did that guy come from?" Looking around, he saw several Menoses appearing from the Garganta* in the sky, the one the new Espada had come from. As quick as Renji could count, he now spotted at least seven or eight Adjuchases on his left and five on his right. "Damn it." With a dissatisfied groan he launched Zabimaru into one of the Hollows but the target managed to evade his head-on attack.

"Let taicho and Ichigo handle the Espada, these Menoses will wreck the entire town if we don't stop them fast!" Matsumoto yelled at him as she dodged two enemies charging at her from her front and back.

From the Garganta, more than ten massive, ugly masks belonging to Gillians appeared, announcing their arrival with terrifying screams. Matsumoto felt slight despair creep onto her. Both captains and Ichigo were busy with the Espadas and she and Renji had their hands full with the Adjuchases.

"Watch out!" A male voice yelled behind her. She turned around and saw an Adjuchas charging straight at her, taking advantage of Matsumoto's awe at the Gillians' appearance. She braced herself for impact but before the Hollow could touch her, a blue arrow of light pierced the back of its head and the creature dissolved quickly.

"Y-You…" Matsumoto mumbled as she recognized the two figures who now stood in front of her as Sado Yasutora and Ishida Uryu, friends of Ichigo.

"Matsumoto-san, leave the large ones to us," Sado offered in his deep voice. Matsumoto gratefully accepted the extra fighting power.

Meanwhile, Byakuya and Ulquoirra resumed their fighting as well, continuously avoiding each other's attacks, making it seem like the battle could go on forever. Every once in a while, Ulquoirra's eyes seemed to briefly glance at his comrade, as if to check up on him.

Said comrade hadn't made a single move after his Resurreccion had been unleashed. He only stood there in mid-air, seemingly just observing his two opponents. Hitsugaya swallowed thickly and suddenly charged at Auraldo, feinting an attack and swiftly flying to the left when he had been only a few inches away from the Espada. It was to observe how the enemy would react, but no reaction came. The Espada had just stood still as if he hadn't even noticed his enemy. Hitsugaya frowned as he heard a high-pitched ringing start in his ears.

'_Strange…'_ The boy bit his lip as tried to make sense of the situation. Before he could deduce anything, Ichigo also closed in on Auraldo, charging up a Getsuga Tensho and attempting to slash him with the wave of concentrated energy. This time Auraldo did move, at an astonishing speed.

'_Sonido*?' _Hitsugaya opened his mouth to say something to Ichigo and Auraldo seemed to notice this. His lips twitched and the leftmost stitch on his lips snapped, allowing him to open the corner of his mouth slightly. Immediately a painfully high pitched screech escaped, causing Ichigo and Hitsugaya to cringe. Whatever words Hitsugaya had spoken were drowned, not reaching Ichigo's ears.

'_N-Not good,'_ Ichigo thought to himself, unsure what he should do next. Unfortunately, Auraldo decided it was time for him to start moving on his own, closing the distance between him and Ichigo within a second and thrust the blunt end of his right arm in the other's stomach. Ichigo's eyes widened as saliva and a little blood escaped his mouth. With difficulty he retreated before the other could strike a second time, hunching forward as he tried to regain the breath that had been knocked out of him. Hitsugaya took this chance to sneak up behind their enemy and slash his back but without even turning around Auraldo moved out of his way, forcing Hitsugaya to stop quickly before he'd crash into Ichigo.

'_How did he notice me from behind…'_ The little captain frowned deeply, glancing at Ichigo from the corner of his eyes.

"You okay?"

Ichigo half-chuckled, running out of breath halfway through.

"Y-Yeah," he mumbled before he straightened his body, ignoring the ache in his stomach. "He's ridiculously fast."

"And perceptive," Hitsugaya added. He looked around and saw Byakuya, Renji and Matsumoto fighting their own battles, only now noticing the other two allies that had appeared, Ichigo's classmates. All five seemed to be distracted by the high pitched sound resonating from Auraldo. "We need to somehow separate him from this place. He's making it difficult for the others to keep on fighting."

Ichigo looked around and indeed, it seemed like the others were getting slower because of the distracting noise.

"How?"

"Keep him busy for at least five minutes," Hitsugaya whispered. Auraldo raised an eyebrow from a distance.

"I'll try," Ichigo groaned before gripping Zangetsu tightly, speeding off towards the Espada. Meanwhile, Hitsugaya took a deep breath as he held Hyourinmaru's handle with both hands.

'_Ready for this?'_ He murmured, addressing the mighty dragon he shared his soul with. It let out a soft growl in acknowledgement. Hitsugaya lowered himself and moved out of the Espada's sight.

Trying to buy his friend the time he needed, Ichigo challenged Auraldo to a test of speed, seeing how it was one of his Bankai's forte. The challenge was silently accepted and the two moved through the air as blurs of black and white, sometimes coming closer but never quite connecting. It seemed as though the diversion was working but after three minutes Auraldo had enough, stopping his movements. Ichigo quickly halted as well, eyeing his enemy suspiciously. He felt a slight shiver run down his back as a cool breeze swept by.

Auraldo closed his eyes and his lips twitched again. Ichigo desperately hoped it wasn't what he was thinking but proved himself right when a second stitch on the other's lips snapped, allowing them to part wider. Ichigo felt like his head would split open and it began to throb at the sound that followed. Trying to cover his ears and keep his eyes open, Ichigo could do nothing else. More windows shattered in the surrounding houses and buildings, causing cardrivers to lose their sight and crash into each other, loud claxons now adding to all the noise.

'_D-Damn… Isn't he affected by this noise himself?...Hurry up, Toushiro'_

Trying not to think too hard Ichigo closed in on Auraldo, hoping his advance would cause the other to stop his crushing waves of noise. It cost him nearly all of his willpower to keep his eyes open against the reflex to close them and almost blindly he swung his blade once he was close to the Espada. The attack was a clear miss but it had its desired effect as Auraldo closed his mouth. Unfortunately, even though the actual sounds were gone, they still seemed to echo heavily in Ichigo's ears. A high pitch also rang. Ichigo breathed heavily as it felt like his own head had become an enemy on itself he had to keep under control.

Auraldo's arm appeared out of nowhere and slammed harshly into Ichigo's left side and a faint crushing sound could be heard. Ichigo's senses had been too dulled to react to the attack. Auraldo's other arm pulled back, ready to thrust into the other's stomach for a second time but something seemed to distract him halfway through.

Without anyone noticing, the skies had been filled with dark, menacing clouds and a cold wind almost slashed on their skin as it swept by. From between two buildings, Hitsugaya appeared as he rose to the same level as them. His eyebrows almost connected in the frown he had, a sign of his immense concentration.

"Sennen Hyourou*," he whispered and eight pillars of ice shot up from the ground and caught Auraldo and Ichigo in a circle. Both of them had wide eyes as they watched in awe at the amount of ice that had formed without their knowledge. Ichigo quickly fell back and left the circle as the pillars started to close in on the center of that circle: a bewildered Auraldo.

Said enemy tried to follow Ichigo in his escape but the pillars mirrored his exact movements to maintain the circle that constantly decreased in size. When Hitsugaya confirmed that Ichigo was safe, he swung Hyourinmaru counterclockwise. At that movement, the pillars crashed into Auraldo from all sides, encasing him completely in ice. That crushing sound felt like one of victory for Ichigo, who limped towards Hitsugaya.

"W-Wow, Toushiro, that's incredi-" he coughed up some blood and cringed as he fell on one knee. His left side felt like it had been hugged by a bulldozer. Despite that, he chuckled between gasped breaths. "And not a moment too soon."

The other's emerald eyes gazed at Ichigo, checking if any of the wounds needed immediate attention. The teen's left ribs were broken without a doubt. Hitsugaya bit his lower lip.

"Kurosaki, get Inoue-san to fix you up, leave this one to me." Ichigo seemed surprised.

"He's dead, right, that Espada?" He'd assumed no one could survive such a devastating attack from his captain friend.

"Far from it," Hitsugaya answered as he motioned towards the mass of ice. Ichigo turned to look at their frozen enemy and at first there wasn't anything that caught his attention. Until a large crack appeared in the ice and that's when Ichigo saw numerous small ones forming as well.

"He's... breaking free," Ichigo mumbled in disappointment. Hitsugaya nodded.

'_I wasn't done preparing yet… But if I hadn't drawn the Espada's attention right then…'_ Hitsugaya's gaze returned to Ichigo and he shook off the thoughts about how badly things could've ended for the other.

"I'll move him somewhere with less people and as far away from the others and their battles as I can," Hitsugaya stated as he temporarily sheathed Hyourinmaru while keeping his Bankai activated.

"In that case you can't go alone, we'll fight him together," Ichigo answered firmly, not tolerating any objection. It was Hitsugaya's turn to chuckle and he shook his head.

"Very well. Hurry, he could get out within a minute." Both faces turned dead serious again.

"There's a large river surrounded by a few miles of forest not too far north from here. It won't be completely empty, but at least the others will be able to fight peacefully."

"That'll do," Hitsugaya nodded and sped towards the encased Auraldo, pressing his right wing against the mass of ice and pushing it forward. Ichigo spat some saliva and blood to his side before following him.

Meanwhile Byakuya was still engaged in an endless battle with Ulquoirra, who had drawn his sword, a sign the man was at least somewhat serious. Both seemed determined to finish off the other gracefully, yet not able to easily do so.

Matsumoto and Renji desperately tried to keep control over the growing number of Adjuchases while Sado and Ishida slaughtered one Gillian after another.

"Sado-kun, on your right!" Ishida yelled at his giant friend to warn him of the colossal Gillian that tried to squash him under his feet. Ishida's eyes widened as his friend disappeared beneath a gigantic white foot that stomped down.

"Sado-kun!"

Ishida was about to rush towards his location when the Gillian's foot started to tremble and then slowly rise. Underneath, Sado's figure appeared, the shield on his right arm held above him to prevent him from being crushed.

"B-Brazo Derecha de G-Gigante*."

Then with a roar Sado thrust up his right arm and the Gillian's foot along with it, causing the Menos to lose its balance. Sado took this chance to use his powerful left arm to finish of his opponent.

Ishida sighed as he realized he'd worried too much for his capable companion and decided to continue dealing with his targets.

* * *

><p>A few miles north of the battlefield Hitsugaya panted as he'd managed to push the large prison of ice to the middle of a river. Falling back to stand next to Ichigo, he snorted.<p>

"We need a battle plan. And fast or we're gonna be taking a whole lot more damage."

Ichigo sighed in agreement.

"The noise this guy makes is absurd, I can't believe he's not affected by it himself."

_Yes, how is that possible? _Hitsugaya asked himself, trying to figure out anything that could give them the edge in this battle. He then remembered seeing the Espada's ears disappear after unleashing his Resureccion. Did that mean he couldn't hear at all? Or in a way he didn't need his ears while at the same time being immune for his own noise?

"Kurosaki, let's stay defensive for now. I want to observe him some more."

"Meaning," Ichigo chuckled, "I get to distract him again while you sit back and relax? Ah man, why do I have to all the work?" Hitsugaya smirked.

"Just the brainless work."

Ichigo wanted to retort but the sound of crushing ice caught their attention. Auraldo was free again and judging from his knitted eyebrows, he wasn't very happy. He snapped the middle stitch on his mouth, enabling him to open his mouth halfway through. Like before, this unleashed a painful noise that almost paralyzed the two shinigami.

Hitsugaya inwardly groaned, but finally he noticed something. With each stitch that snapped, the noise from his mouth became lower pitched. Even though a high pitch seemed to ring in his head from time to time as well. That and Auraldo never seemed to look them in the eye.

Testing a theory, Hitsugaya lunged forward with Hyourinmaru pointed straight at the Espada. Halfway through the captain adjusted his course so he approached his enemy at an angle. Fixating his attention on Auraldo's eyes, Hitsugaya swung his sword at a mediocre speed. The giant closed his mouth and, as expected, evaded Hitsugaya's attack effortlessly.

But his large, black eyes hadn't moved once.

"Geez Toushiro, my little sister could've dodged that!" Ichigo yelled at his companion. "This is how it's done!" With a roar he charged for the umpteenth time that day at the large Espada. Auraldo moved to his right just when Ichigo closed in on him, evading the mindless slash and countering by smashing his left arm into Ichigo's back. Before he could successfully execute that counter, though, Hitsugaya had sneaked up behind him silently, hoping to land a strike on the enemy's neck. As though Auraldo had eyes in his back, however, he canceled his counterattack on Ichigo and instead ducked to escape Hitsugaya's range.

Both shinigami took their distance again after all their failed attempts.

"I think I know what's going on," Hitsugaya mumbled in Ichigo's direction. The substitute shinigami looked dumbfounded but moved in closer, eager to get some advice on how to end this tiresome battle.

Auraldo would not allow such communication though, as the fourth stitch on his mouth snapped, causing the all too familiar noise to fill the skies again, preventing Hitsugaya's words from ever reaching Ichigo's ears.

_D-Damn it,_ Ichigo thought, _I can't hear a thing Toushiro's saying. _

Ichigo focused hard on the other's moving lips, hoping to gain some kind of clue as to what he was trying to say.

_Bag?... Bad… Bat?... Bat!_

Ichigo's eyes widened as realization hit him. This guy worked like a bat! Maybe the horrendous noise from his mouth was masking an incredibly high pitch that told Auraldo where they were without having to use his eyes. That would explain his ability to evade attacks completely outside of his sight… But how would knowing this help? They still weren't able to change anything.

Hitsugaya noticed Ichigo's realization of their enemy's abilities yet they both failed to think of a workable plan to counter them. Well, he could of course…

_Toushiro…_ Hyourinmaru's deep voice boomed through Hitsugaya's soul. _You know that is dangerous. If not for yourself then surely for everyone around you._

Hitsugaya bit his lip, knowing his soulmate was right. But did they have any other option? He sure didn't see one.

First of all, they had to shut up Auraldo. He seemed to reflexively close his mouth when being attacked, so that's what he'd do first. Hitsugaya lunged at Auraldo with all his might and succeeded in startling the giant. That damned mouth was finally closed again. With his back towards Auraldo, Hitsugaya approached Ichigo.

"Shut up, listen," Hitsugaya hastily muttered, knowing he didn't have much time before Auraldo would intervene.

"I'll create a fog around him. On my signal, attack him with _all you have_," extra emphasis was put on those last three words. Ichigo nodded, not sure what good a fog would do for them but he had to believe in the brains of his friend right now.

Hitsugaya quickly separated himself from Ichigo to prevent Auraldo from believing he had to cut their communication short. The short captain bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.

This plan wasn't nearly as simple as it had seemed to Ichigo and required extraordinary capabilities on Hitsugaya's part.

_Help me with this, Hyourinmaru… You may have to hold me back…_

It remained quiet for several seconds before the mighty dragon complied, his approving growl making Hitsugaya's body tremble.

"Tensho Jurin*," he muttered quietly. Hyourinmaru's most basic power: To control the weather. This is accomplished by manipulating the water in the surround atmosphere. Hitsugaya very much preferred not to use this power in Bankai mode as it became very hard to control, thus making it a danger to his comrades in the direct vicinity. But he'd have to accomplish the best case scenario now, he just had to.

Swallowing thickly, Hitsugaya gathered water in the air surrounding them, the river below them an abundant source, heightening the humidity. Auraldo seemed suspicious of this development and approached Hitsugaya to stop him but Ichigo positioned himself between them, blocking access to his friend.

Hitsugaya's forehead became creased from frowning as he tried to concentrate harder and deeper. It wasn't just any fog he was creating. If Auraldo really did function like a bat, then he was sending out immensely high pitched sounds that would bounce against objects or people, return to Auraldo and the manner of how they returned would tell him about the arrangement of his surroundings. Those sounds are nothing more than movement of air. The fog Hitsugaya would create had to function like an airtight barrier surrounding Auraldo, enclosing his sounds around him, effectively turning him blind.

However, creating a fog that was so airtight requires absurd concentration. It would be tempting to just create a barrier of ice, but Ichigo had to be able to move through this barrier to reach and finally defeat Auraldo, thus requiring flexible control of the water droplets. This, however, provided Hitsugaya with two extra, severely straining tasks. First, he had to highly satiate the fog with his own reiatsu to mask Ichigo's, or else Auraldo would still be able to sense him coming. Second, he had to take extreme care to control the fog, so as to not turn the water droplets into ice, freezing and most definitely killing Ichigo before he could even reach Auraldo.

They had to execute this with perfect timing or Auraldo would perhaps try to move through the fog himself. Hitsugaya would be able to freeze him like before, but unlike a frozen Ichigo, Auraldo could probably break the ice using the powerful vibrations of air from his noises. They _had_ to land the final blow with Ichigo's most powerful technique at the exact right time.

Thankful that Ichigo was once again distracting Auraldo, Hitsugaya closed his eyes as he pictured the formation of water droplets in his mind. He couldn't let to many gaps fall in the barrier or Auraldo's sounds would betray Ichigo's location. His heart started thumping harshly in his chest and a drop of sweat fell from the left side of his face. By the time the drop of sweat had reach his chin, it froze into a tiny crystal of ice.

_Damn it, too much…_

Slightly easing up on the temperature, the little shinigami finally succeeded in making an airtight formation of water droplets with just the right temperature to prevent them from turning to ice. Taking a deep breath, Hitsugaya pointed Hyourinmaru at Auraldo, moving the fog to completely envelop their enemy. The Espada flinched, unsure what was happening.

_Please give me your all, my dear friend,_ Hitsugaya begged his mighty zanpaktou. He could feel his request being fulfilled as Hyourinmaru's power started to swell up in his body, fueling his reiatsu. Carefully he directed that reiatsu into the fog, spreading it evenly. Satisfied with the fog, it was time.

"NOW!" Hitsugaya roared at Ichigo, who nodded nervously.

The orange haired teen's eyes turned determined in a second and he pulled out his Hollow mask, turning his eyes an eerie black and yellow. His own power exploded at unleashing this inner power and with boosted confidence Ichigo thrust himself into the fog, heading straight for the center where Auraldo would be waiting.

Hitsugaya nearly dropped to his knees as he tried to maintain his airtight barrier of droplets with his reiatsu evenly spread, while at the same time freeing a narrow path for Ichigo to move through.

"Almost," the boy whimpered weakly.

In contrast, Ichigo roared in fury. After only three seconds he had reached the center and as a menacing black flurry he appeared above Auraldo. Said Espada finally noticed his enemy and was in the process of snapping the last stitch on his mouth but he was too late. Ichigo yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

The mighty black wave of energy descended onto Auraldo, whose fully opened mouth now emitted a scream that would've almost made a tear in Ichigo's eardrums. However, the scream died out fast as the Getsuga Tensho split the Espada in two, turning the frightening enemy into a lifeless mess of flesh and blood. The afterwave of the powerful attack smashed into the fog, blowing some of it away.

Panting harshly, Ichigo allowed his mask to dissolve on his face, watching the fog dissipate soon after. Immediately, his gaze connected with Hitsugaya, who's knees finally did give out and fell to the ground.

"T-Toushiro," Ichigo yelled at him, approaching his little friend as he worried for his safety.

"I-I'll be… fine…" the boy said between gasps. Despite his utterly exhausted expression, the boy's lips curved up. "We… did it…"

Ichigo's eyes softened as he recognized Hitsugaya was alright. Placing a hand on the other's right shoulder, he sighed in relief.

"We sure did." Feeling as if every muscle lost its tension, Ichigo fell to the ground, landing on his back. He could only laugh weakly.

* * *

><p>Byakuya had gained some minor cuts during his battle with Ulquiorra, who was still untouched. The lithe Espada was growing increasingly bored in his fight with the shinigami captain and his attention was finally piqued when Auraldo's reiatsu completely disappeared.<p>

"Failed, huh?" He muttered to himself. "Don't try to entertain me any longer, shinigami captain. I'm done with you."

With that sudden statement, Ulquoirra sheathed his sword and turned towards the Garganta. As soon as he'd entered, the tear started to close. Byakuya arrived a split-second after it had closed completely, as if the display of white sands and pitch-black skies had never been there. With a hint of frustration in his movements, Byakuya sheathed his zanpaktou.

With the Garganta closed, the endless supply of Hollows was cut off and before long Renji, Matsumoto, Ishida and Sado had finished all the small fry that had been left behind. Finished at last, they regrouped on the ground, everyone obviously out of breath after such an extended workout.

"Heeeeh, that was one hell of a brawl," Renji groaned as he took a seat on the ground and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Mou, you can say that again!" Matsumoto whined as sat down next to Renji, feeling sticky from sweat as well.

Ishida and even Sado complained as well as the joined the two shinigami on the ground, glad to take a rest. From a distance, Ishida noticed two figures approaching. They were unmistakably Ichigo and Hitsugaya, both still in their bankai forms.

"Damn it," Hitsugaya cursed under his breath. He lowered his zanpaktou, allowing the ice encasing his arm and back to slowly dissipate before releasing his powerful technique.

A soft breeze rustled the boy's pure white hair, a welcome caress after all the strain his body had been under. He sighed deeply as he looked at the stoic captain standing not too far from him, Hitsugaya noticed his fellow captain was not amused. It wasn't often that Kuchiki Byakuya couldn't finish what he'd started.

Letting out another deep breath, Hitsugaya slowly made his way towards the others on the ground, now completely sealing his bankai state as the ice on his body fell away. He looked around but couldn't see very well as an orange blur quickly filled his vision. Already scowling slightly in advance, he eyed the teen as he halted, affectionate concern hidden in those chocolate brown eyes.

"Are you really not hurt badly, Toushiro?" Ichigo asked, his gentle voice causing a strange stirring in the small boy's stomach. So, the boy averted his eyes and turned his head, answering quietly.

"I'm okay."

Ichigo was about to ask him once more but another blur approached the two and within seconds the white-topped face was buried in a bust he'd hoped never to feel so close again.

"Taichoooouuu! I missed you so much!" The female voice pitched highly, which only irritated the little captain more.

"M-Matsu…moto…I…can't…breathe," the deep, muffled voice sounded before his two dainty hands found some grip on the supple body and managed to free his head from the deep Ravine of Death, as he had dubbed it mentally.

Hitsugaya panted heavier from the temporary air loss though soon recovered his posture and crossed his arms in front of his small chest. He felt like he shouldn't show weakness.

"Oh, taichou… Don't act so irritated! It's all okay now. The battle's over, and no one's hurt bad! So? Did Ichigo attempt any heroic rescues while we were fighting Menoses?" his vice-captain asked, a slightly teasing tone in his voice as she poked her little captain. A huge grin appeared on the orange-topped face as a thumb was raised for extra confirmation.

"You bet!" Ichigo said excitedly. Hitsugaya blushed slightly as he averted his face once again in an attempt to hide it.

"Both of you, shut up," he mumbled, a dangerous tone present in his low voice.

Meanwhile, Renji had met up with his captain and the redhead was very busy making sure his captain wasn't hurt before asking any other questions.

"So… Since everyone's okay and all…" Ichigo said, a childish glint returning in his eyes, "how about we have an after-party at my place! To celebrate our victory!"

Matsumoto immediately bounced around as her face lit up even more, already wildly chattering about the –absolutely- necessary amount of alcohol.

"This is no victory at all, you two," Hitsugaya interrupted, making sure his vice-captain stopped jumping up and down before continuing.

"And there is absolutely not going be a party. Matsumoto, there is a report to write about the events that just took place. Soul Society has definitely picked up the Espada's reiatsu and we're under strict orders to brief them on everything that happens. And Ichigo, your exams are only two days away, remember?"

Two excited faces quickly died down as wide grins were replaced with sad pouts. However, the commanding scowl and deep frown remained as always on the frosty captain's face.

"But Toushirooo," Ichigo whined, "how in the world can we study after all this? Besides," a satisfied and smug grin appeared on his face again, "I just saved your sorry ass for the… Heck, I've lost count already!"

The blush that had almost disappeared on the pale boy's face returned slightly and it frustrated him to no end.

"Kurosaki, you're the one who wants to get a good grade, right? Well, the exam's in two days, leaving only today and tomorrow to study. Don't waste half of your remaining time."

Ichigo sighed in defeat as he slumped his shoulders, knowing his friend was right.

"Oh, don't worry Ichigo, we'll definitely hold another party sometime! I have all kinds of stories to tell about taichou! I'm sure you'll like them!" Ichigo beamed up at the words of the strawberry-blonde woman and he nodded excitedly.

"Oh! Rangiku-san, you and Renji should come over on next week's Friday evening! I'm holding a housewarming party at my place, also in celebration of getting a good grade, which I'll surely get with Toushiro's help—"

"You'll have to do it alone and it's Hitsu—"

"And you two should definitely come too! It'll be fun!"

"Oho! That would be so great! And don't worry, I'll bring all the drinks we need!"

Meanwhile, forgotten and ignored, a white-haired boy sighed deeply as he didn't even want to imagine the horror of that so-called party, now that the 'I-drink-liquor-as-water' beast had been released in his vice-captain…

* * *

><p>-Later that evening-<p>

Ichigo rubbed the back of his strained neck with an unsure look on his face as he stood in the doorway, his little tutor about to leave. Two empty pizza boxes were left forgotten on the dining table. While the two had studied they'd ordered food and ate while continuing their reading. It had become dark outside, the hour already nearing eleven o'clock. And so, Hitsugaya had announced it was time for him to leave, which placed them in their current situation.

Ichigo coughed lightly before looking at the white-haired boy, who didn't seem to walk down the stairs, thus not officially taking his leave. Instead, the boy stood still just a few steps from his doorway removed and if Ichigo's eyes weren't failing him after the intense study session then he'd be sure he saw some discomfort and even a hint of anxiousness in the boy's turquoise orbs. Ichigo rubbed his eyes as he suppressed a yawn, patiently waiting for the boy to do something, anything.

"Kurosaki…" Hitsugaya's deep voice eventually sounded, echoing a little in the hallway. Ichigo raised an eyebrow as the pale face turned away from him and he could see one of the dainty hands clenched.

"Thank you…For supporting me today…" The boy's eyes darted around, not sure what to focus on as he tried to clear his throat, feeling as if something was stuck in it. But he knew, and hated the fact for it, that it was just him being nervous. Hitsugaya Toushiro, nervous. He didn't even want to admit it himself.

Hitsugaya stood still for a few more seconds but finally decided to really leave and he quickly approached the stairs, already stepping down the first three steps.

"You're welcome, you know."

He immediately halted as he heard the other's voice, deepened with exhaustion though the honesty and gentleness was still obvious. From where he stood now he could only barely see the orange-topped face and he quickly glanced at it, a strange feeling in his stomach as he did so before resuming his descend on the stairs. But before he could reach the bottom he heard the loud, echoing voice again, now with a hint of amusement in it.

"I'll save your butt whenever you want!"

'_And that,' _Hitsugaya thought, _'is pushing your luck.' _A small smirk appeared on the boy's face as he opened the door and gently closed it behind him. Breathing in the cold, brisk evening air he stood still for a few moments, trying to collect himself before walking home.

'_That stupid idiot,' _he thought as he shook his head. Though, with the corners of his mouth tugged up, he finally started walking, longing for his own bed.

**Author's Notes:**

A Garganta is the tear in the sky through which it is possible to cross over to Hueco Mundo. Espada's and Menoses often enter through them.

Sonido is the Hollow equivalent of Shunpo for shinigami. Both are techniques for high speed movement.

Sennen Hyourou translates to Thousand Years' Ice Prison and is a powerful move of Hitsugaya that takes some time to charge.

Brazo Derecha de Gigante translates to Right Arm of the Giant. It is Sado's right arm that turns black and purple and can be used for attacking but is ultimately destined to protect as it forms a shield on Sado's arm in its final form.

Tensho Jurin translates to Subjugation of the Heavens, a fitting name for Hyourinmaru's most basic power, the ability to control the heavens, or more specifically, the water in the atmosphere. Mostly used in his Shikai form, this ability can also be used in Bankai but becomes highly dangerous and difficult to control.

**In the next chapter of Thawing Walls:**

"Hey, Toushiro, if I pass this test… Will you—" Ichigo couldn't finish his question as the teacher suddenly entered the room, inducing complete silence over all the students. Everyone hastily took their seats, not daring to speak a single word as the teacher looked at them with a stern, serious look.

And…

Shirosaki turned around, his back towards Ichigo as he started walking, bizarrely walking down the skyscraper's walls as he slowly faded out of sight.

"Mark my words, King. The kid's trouble, nothin' less. Oh, and…"

The white figure stopped shortly.

"Beware of a coup d'état…" He added cynically before continuing to walk down, his white shoulders shaking with sick amusement.


	8. Chapter 8

Why, is this really an update? It certainly is! I hope some of the original readers are still around.

**Thawing Walls – Chapter 8b**

Hitsugaya Toushiro 's cerulean eyes stared deep into themselves, the bathroom mirror reflecting his appearance. Biting his bottom lip, the boy was not quite satisfied with what he saw. Not that he felt bad about himself, quite the opposite. He had long come to terms with his shortness, his pristine white hair and the permanent frown lines on his forehead that had come to intimidate many.

The focus of his discomfort were the dark bags beneath his usually sparkling eyes. They had become increasingly evident over the past few days and while he wasn't a stranger to signs of fatigue, this time was different. Usually, the symptoms resulted from days full of battles and nights filled with paperwork. That took a toll on his physical stamina. Right now, however, his mind was being challenged. These past weeks many troubling things had occurred and he couldn't make sense of any. The prodigy wasn't used to being in the dark, his sharp intellect had always provided him with answers. But these Menos appearances, their behavior, the Espada's invasions that seemed half-hearted to say the least… Undoubtedly, they were connected. But how, the kid captain couldn't fathom. This was his primary concern right now.

As if that wasn't enough, he was bothered with schoolwork. Schoolwork! 'Oh, you'll fit in fine', Matsumoto had said, 'you'll enjoy it', she had promised. That woman was in for one stern speech sometime soon. However, these school affairs had led to his frequent encounters with Kurosaki and Hitsugaya wasn't quite sure yet if that was a good or a bad thing. It certainly took up time. And patience, a lot of patience. What he couldn't deny though, he started to not dislike spending his time that way. And that was his secondary concern at the moment. In the beginning the loud teen was only good for reinforcement in battle, the substitute shinigami sure could keep his own but the headaches and frustrations he caused had come dangerously close to outweighing that benefit. At some point he felt guilt tripped into aiding the teen in his exam preparations and that was when things steadily began to change. While there was always an abundance of irritation caused by the other's unruly behavior, Hitsugaya noticed the teen's excitement and sense of achievement was slightly infectious. With time it began to feel like Kurosaki's accomplishments became his own. The pride resulting from that was no self-centered kind, instead he was actually glad forhis friend.

Hitsugaya stopped his train of thought, his eyes suspiciously cast on his own face as if he was reading an enemy. Yes, everything involving his interactions with Kurosaki led to the conclusion that he was his friend, despite the exclusiveness of that status in the little captain's world. His only other true friend was his vice-captain, who he held very dear regardless of the trouble she could cause. Some time ago he truthfully and rightfully called his sister a friend. However, Hinamori's mind had been broken ever since that one fated day in Seireitei and she had yet to recover her mental health, making it hard to see her as more than a victim.

A small, dainty hand ran through the spikes on his head before smoothing out a spot on his shoulder and brushing away a tiny speck of dust. His eyes closed slightly as he checked his clothing for any other imperfections.

For some reason, on this morning, he was feeling nervous despite that fact that today was not an important day for him. For Kurosaki, though, it was immensely important. The mock exams had finally arrived and everything they worked so hard on would quite literally be put to the test. An uncomfortable feeling swam in his stomach and for a moment he attributed it to rooting for the obnoxious teen. Still something felt missing. There was something distinctly different between this incident of hoping Kurosaki would succeed and any instance where Matsumoto was being evaluated as a vice-captain. Whatever it was, he couldn't find the right words to describe this anxiety.

He left the bathroom and entered the kitchen, checking a clock on his way. He still had plenty of time before school started but pacing around in the apartment didn't sound very appealing so he figured he'd slowly head for school. From the kitchen he picked up a sandwich he'd prepared earlier, scowling when he remembered the idiot had made him promise to bring along a proper lunch for this important day. Placing his neatly packaged food in his bag he closed it and put it on the floor. From his bedroom he grabbed his uniform jacket, slipping into it before picking up his bag and moving towards the door. He effortlessly wriggled into his shoes and gently opened the door, locking it behind him.

Breathing in the cold morning air surrounding him, the small boy walked over the large bridge that separated him from the school building, paying no attention to the people he passed and the cars that sped by. Lost in his thoughts from earlier that morning he approached the front gate and silently entered, never making eye contact with another student. After a quick visit to his locker to exchange his shoes and some books he made his way towards the classroom. He didn't get very far before a loud voice reached over the many students in the hall, inevitably arriving at the white-haired boy's ears.

"Hey! Toushiro!" The voice was unmistakable and the matching orange mess of hair closed in fast, gently pushing any student in his way until he arrived at his target.

"Don't yell so hard, Kurosaki. It's incredibly annoying," Hitsugaya flashed his trademark scowl. Like always Ichigo didn't seem to care about the dangerous prosody and happily continued talking.

"Ahhh, are you ready? Oh man, I'm so nervous, I couldn't get any sleep at all last night." The teen chattered away as they moved towards their classroom. "I kept thinking about what'd happen if I failed. My old man would break half of my bones for sure!" A violent shudder was meant to illustrate the horror that thought induced. Hitsugaya just shook his head.

It didn't take them long to reach the classroom and Ichigo somewhat reluctantly opened the door, entering while feeling like his shoes were filled with weights. Swiftly they both took their seats, Ichigo delving into his bag and taking out a book. He frantically started flipping through it, trying to take in last bits and pieces of information.

"Don't read," Hitsugaya said without turning to face him. He'd crossed his arms in front of his chest, his exterior completely relaxed. "It will only make you more stressed and make you forget what you've actually learned. Calming down will benefit you more right now."

Ichigo eyed the back of the smaller teen with doubt in his brown eyes, contemplating for a second what to do. The boy was probably right… With a sigh he closed his book and dumped it in his bag. It remained silent for a while, the only sounds being that of other students entering quietly, nervously, and the crowds moving in the hallway.

"Toushiro, you're used to stressful situations, aren't you?" Ichigo asked with an odd mix of curiosity and anxiety. No answer came, nor any acknowledgement of the question.

"Hey, Toushiro, if I pass this exam… Will you—" Ichigo couldn't finish his question as the teacher suddenly entered the room, inducing immediate silence in all the students. Those that were still standing hastily took their seats, not daring to speak a single word as the teacher looked at them with a stern, serious and almost solemn expression.

"Everyone, please take out a single pencil and put away everything else. Close your bags." She started walking swiftly through the rows of desks, placing several sheets of paper on each desk. When she took her place in front of the class again she looked at her watch intensely. Seconds, which seemed like hours of torture, passed before she finally spoke up.

"Even though these are mock exams, do your utmost best as anyone who fails _will_ follow mandatory classes during vacation time. Two hours, not a minute more, starting now. Good luck to you all. Begin."

* * *

><p>"Ahh!" Ichigo sighed loudly as he stretched his upper body in an attempt to relieve some of the tension that had built up over the past two hours. Relishing in the fresh air that the rooftop of their school building provided he eyed his little friend sitting a few feet away. The ever-scowling boy was silently staring at the scenery below.<p>

"Ne, Toushiro, about that second to last question. Was it just me or was it ridiculously difficult? I'm pretty sure we never covered that in class." The reply came as a soft mumble.

"Really, stop calling me Toushiro." The captain's eyes never moved away from whatever they were observing and his body was completely still, as if he were a statue.

Ichigo bit his bottom lip, unsure what to do about the seemingly more uptight than ever little boy. Something was up with the other and Ichigo felt uncomfortable not knowing what it was. From his seated position in the circle he had formed with the others he moved to get up but an invisible brick seemed to hit him in the face. The rooftop swayed and turned before he blacked out.

Ichigo's initial response to this sudden change was anxious and tense but before long he realized a familiar sensation enveloping him. He felt like he was falling for a moment and before long his sight returned to him, with it a view of horizontal skyscrapers. A breeze swept passed him as he recognized his altered surroundings.

Without a doubt, he was in his inner world.

Ichigo turned his head in several directions, trying to pick up the trusted old man's figure that usually welcomed him on these visits. His zanpaktou wasn't to be found. Before long a voice did reach his ears.

"Yo… It's been a while, my dear KingA," a ghostly white face behind Ichigo was the unmistakable source of the words. A sarcastic smirk dripped from it as Ichigo visibly tensed before quickly turning around.

"The hell? Get lost, you're supposed to keep quiet," Ichigo nearly hissed, not even trying to conceal his frustration and contempt. However, it only invited a hackled laugh to escape from the other's white lips.

"Really, really, King, ya need to chill down. No need to get so feisty." The hollow scratched the side of his head. "Talkin' about feisty, you've been getting' waaay to close to the shinigami kid. I can barely take yer mushiness towards those little sisters you adore so much but what ya got goin' on now is just _too_ much handle."

Ichigo's eyes glanced downwards, thinking about what the other half of his soul mate was saying. Swallowing thickly and clenching his fists, he tried to think of a response. He started with the obvious.

"Who I get involved with," he paused to make eye contact, "is none of your business. So shut it." The statement made little impact. "I went through hell to keep you from popping up like this. I beat you heads on, act like it."

It remained quiet for a short moment, almost as if the words were being taken seriously. A chuckle betrayed that idea.

"Hehehe… Really, can ya get any weaker?" The hollow shrugged dramatically before turning his back to Ichigo, bizarrely walking down the skyscraper's walls.

"Mark my words, my dear King. The kid's trouble, nothin' less. Oh, and…" The white figure stopped briefly, slightly turning his head to his right shoulder. "Beware of a coup d'état…" He added cynically before continuing to stroll away, his shoulders shaking with sick amusement.

Ichigo stoically watched his Hollow disappear from sight, his own unmoving body in stark contrast to his racing mind. Why was he suddenly able to pull him into this world without permission? His training with the Vizards was supposed to prevent this. And more importantly, why did he only want to talk so briefly? Surely he was intent on fighting and trying to claim dominance.

Ichigo couldn't give it much more thought as he felt himself being surrounded by darkness once more and with a small sigh he surrendered himself to it. Before long he found himself back on the rooftop he'd been on earlier. He startled slightly, looking around and noticing his eyes felt unusually heavy.

"Oi, Kurosaki, break's over," Ishida called to him as he waited in the doorway of the rooftop. Ichigo realized he was the only one left sitting, the others apparently already gone. He rubbed his eyes with a callused hand, trying to shake off the drowsiness that seemed to cloud his senses.

"Tch, to fall asleep right now, of all times. Your carefree attitude really doesn't know any limits," Ishida muttered as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with a singly finger. Eyeing Ichigo for a second longer he turned around and walked down the stairs. Ichigo stood still for a moment longer, a frown forming on his forehead.

"I… fell asleep? Weird…" He bit his lip for a split second before shaking his head. "Crap, gotta hurry to the classroom!"

* * *

><p>A rough two hours later Ichigo stretched his body abundantly for the second time that day as he left the school building behind him, accompanied by Ishida, Sado, Inoue and even Hitsugaya. The latter looked slightly puzzled, in contrast to the beaming faces of the two orange headed teens. After all, this very moment marked the end of their mock exams, leaving them with an entire afternoon of freedom. Unsurprisingly, Ichigo radiated the most energy of them all. He actually had a good feeling about his performance, which was rather uncommon after an important test.<p>

"So! Who wants to get a burger? I'm starving!" The teen happily announced, though only Inoue responded with equal enthusiasm. Ishida and Sado seemed to quietly comply, leaving only the smallest boy with an uncertain expression. Ichigo took notice of this and energetically patted his petit friend on the shoulder.

"C'mon Toushiro, are you sulking 'cause you think you messed up an exam? That happens to the best of us!"

"It happens to _you_," Ishida sharply commented, thinking the teen should speak for himself on matters like these. Hitsugaya seemed to only frown deeper as he shook off the big hand from his shoulders. This gesture seemed to actually get through to Ichigo. The boy really seemed more tense than usual.

"Is… something wrong, Toushiro?" He asked with gentle concern in voice. Hitsugaya stopped walking and Ichigo halted as well, separating them from the others. The smaller one turned his face away from the other, partially obscuring his facial expression.

"I'm fine, really," was the quiet and unconvincing reply. In response, Ichigo reached out once more to touch Hitsugaya but halfway through the motion he caught the boy's gaze. Those eyes were full of an emotion Ichigo couldn't quite identify, no matter how hard he tried. A mix of uneasiness, uncertainty and even slight desperation seemed to the best description, which was highly uncharacteristic of the usually collected captain. They both kept quiet for what seemed like an eternity, looking into each other's eyes while trying to not show any sign of what raged inside of them.

Hitsugaya seemed like he was about to say something but apparently changed his mind at the last second, turning around and starting to walk way.

"H-Hey, Toushiro?" Ichigo muttered. After a few seconds he decided to follow the boy but the other had been walking rather fast and disappeared in a crowd of taller students that passed by. The boy's pristine white hair was no longer visible and so Ichigo slowed his pace, coming to a stop after a few seconds. His gentle, brown eyes showed genuine concern and something else, something close to sadness though not quite the same. He remained like that for a while, staring at the space he'd last caught a glimpse of his friend. A short while later and from a distance behind him Inoue's voice called out to him.

"Kurosaki-kun! We're leaving you behind!"

Ichigo sighed deeply and turned around with clenched fists, forcing a smile on his face.

"Coming!" He yelled as he jogged up to his friends. He couldn't help but throw a last glance behind him, secretly hoping he would locate an obvious mod of white hair between the masses of people but to no avail.

A few blocks further Hitsugaya came to a halt, panting lightly. Not because of his gigai's unfitness but because of something he tried to suppress, that threatened to eat him from the inside. His stomach was twisting uncomfortable and he felt slightly dizzy. He pressed his lips together in a thin line and arched his back in an attempt to stretch. Sadly, every movement made him feel worse.

Well, worse was not an accurate definition of the raging feelings within the small boy. More so, it was a state of his mind he wasn't used to. He felt sort of happy, while a soft pressure around his neck seemed to try to suffocate him. It didn't feel like sickness nor an attempt at his life. What is was then, he couldn't say.

Most peculiarly this soft pressure around his neck had seemed to get stronger throughout the day while being around one unmistakable person. What Hitsugaya couldn't deny was that the same time the happy feeling also got stronger and stronger. However, this only seemed to puzzle him more. It was a contradiction of feelings that, in a milder form, he had felt around his precious friend and sister before the traitorous Aizen Sousuke wrecked chaos in not only Hitsugaya's own life, but the life of everyone around him. As such, he had started to suppress his happiness around his sister, leaving only the increased suffocating pressure when he was in her presence.

He never dared to expect this duality of feelings, specifically the happiness, to surface within him a second time. Without warning, this contradicting wrestling of feelings had started to stir again, the cause shocking him more than anything else.

_What the hell is this all about? That stupid, ridiculous idiot…_

Hitsugaya took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second. He attempted to clear his head and to a small extent he succeeded. He decided to first get home. If anything he longed for his privacy.

* * *

><p>Two hours after Hitsugaya had entered his apartment, had taken a bath and had finished a report that was due this evening, the doorbell rang. The loud, clear sound pierced the peaceful silence Hitsugaya had so carefully created and maintained, the disruption making his white brows knit together. Choosing to ignore the undoubtedly unimportant intruder of his peace, his teal orbs returned to the numerous sheets of paper on his desk waiting to be signed. Being a trustworthy workaholic, Hitsugaya had decided to use his free time to catch up.<p>

Again the doorbell rang, slightly longer this time. And again white brows came closer to each other and the boy's grip on his pencil tightened. Persistently continuing to write, Hitsugaya remained seated in his chair. For a few more seconds it remained quiet and Hitsugaya assumed the intruder had left. This hope was diminished when the piercing sound echoed through the apartment a third time.

With an audible groan Hitsugaya put down his pencil and pushed his chair back, walking towards the door. Through the small peeking hole in the door he could see the blurred image of a tall figure, topped with an unmistakable orange color. Realization creeping in, Hitsugaya stood still for a moment as he hesitated whether he should open or not.

"Oi, Toushiro?" A deep voice came from the other side of the door. It was muffled by the door separating them but the warmth still reached Hitsugaya perfectly.

"I know you're there, you wouldn't be anywhere else. Just open up, okay?"

After a short moment of contemplation Hitsugaya slowly opened the door. The previously blurred image was replaced with a crystal clear view of the genuine smile on the taller teen's face.

"Yes?" Hitsugaya asked, his voice almost only a low whisper. For some reason, he didn't dare to put much strength in his own voice. Ichigo raised the bag he was holding in his left hand, widening his smile a bit further.

"Inoue, Chad, Ishida and I had a burger just now. Knowing you, you've probably not eaten properly since this morning, so I figured if you aren't going near the food, the food just has to go to you." Ichigo reached out his arm, presenting the bag to the boy in the doorway.

Suspicious eyes carefully took in the small, brown bag with a colorful logo on it. The smell now reached his nose and while the uptight captain was not one to like junk food, even he had to admit he was hungry enough to eat it.

So against every instinctive reaction that prevented him from accepting such kindness from others he clutched the bag with his small hands. In response, Ichigo smiled with a smug 'mission accomplished' expression on his face.

"Now, I'm sure you're not going to grant me the honor of accompanying you while you eat that, so I guess I'll be going now…" Ichigo's voice trailed off with slight uncertainty. Even though the exams were now over and the need for tutoring was gone, he still felt the urge to spend time with the small captain. He had only just begun to sort out what feelings he was developing for the other.

Hitsugaya remained silent, apparently not hearing or not wanting to answer Ichigo. His eyes were cast towards the ground and his fists were still slightly clenched. Ichigo tried to catch the other's gaze but when he realized it was impossible he shrugged with a soft sigh.

"Well, enjoy your burger, okay? Eat it all!" Ichigo said as he waved his hand and turned around, starting to walk away. Something inside of him wanted to be stopped, wanted the white-haired boy to call out to him but instead it stayed completely quiet. After a few steps, Ichigo looked over his shoulder to see that Hitsugaya had left. To his surprise however, the door was still open.

One orange eye brow went up as Ichigo took in the gesture. He carefully eyed to doorway, unsure of what to do now. Slowly he approached and peered into the apartment to see Hitsugaya settle between mountains of paper, still tightly holding on to the bag containing his food. Hesitantly, Ichigo entered and closed the door behind him before joining the boy in the living room.

"Don't make a mess," Hitsugaya mumbled as he opened the bag and salvaged a burger from underneath some fries. He choose to ignore the goofy smile worn by the teen who sat down next to him.

The pressure around his neck made place for a strange tingling in his stomach that had nothing to do with the prospect of eating. A wave of happiness surfaced again and Hitsugaya only partially suppressed the upward tug at the corners of his mouth.

**To be continued**

**Author's note:  
><strong>So, it's been quite some time! Are any of my original readers still there? I hope the emailed alert will reach you all. For those readers, I'm thinking of a writing a summary of sorts. I can't really blame anyone for forgetting most of what has happened thus far and some may be reluctant to read everything again. Let me know if you're interested.  
>I have some actual free time these next few weeks. I will try to write for this story during that time. Feel free to encourage me!<p>

Shirosaki sometimes mockingly calls Ichigo the King after being beaten by him, taking the role of Horse himself. However, he vowed to overthrow his host and become the King himself one day. It's a symbol of the power relation between the two.

**In the next chapter of Thawing Walls:**

Finally, Ichigo's housewarming party and post-exam celebration is coming up. What will be said, by who and what reactions will be given?


End file.
